
Book. 



CopyngMl^?- 



0OFBRIGHT DEPOSm 



DAYS NEAR PARIS 



DAYS NEAR PARIS 



BY 

AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE 

AUTHOR OF "walks IN LONDON," " WALKS IN ROME," " WALKS IN PARIS, 

"FLORENCE," "VENICE," "WANDERINGS IN SPAIN," " CITIES OF 

SOUTHERN ITALY AND SICILY," ETC., ETC. 



"V or ^f 



,,^APR 12 1888 ^ i 




GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS 

New York : 9 Lafayette Place 

London and Glasgow 



^c 






AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE'S WORKS. 
IN 12mo, CLOTH VOLUMES. 



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9 Lafayette Place, New York. 



Copyright, 1888, 
By Joseph L. Blamire. 



PREFACE. 

c-O-* : 

The following excursions are given in the order in which 
they encircle Paris, beginning with St. Cloud. The wood- 
cuts are from my own sketches, transferred to wood by 
Mr. T. SuLMAN. 

Augustus J. C. Hare. 



PUBLISHER'S NOTE. 

In this Edition the numerous citations from French 
writers of history or memoirs^ ifi illustration of the vari- 
ous historical edifices that still remain^ have bee^i translated 
into English, and contain i7iost valuable information respect- 
ing the France of pre-r evolutionary times. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

I. St. Cloud and Sevres i 

II. Versailles 15 

III. St. Germain . . . . . . . . 106 

IV. RuEiL, Malmaison, and Marly . . . . 119 
V. PoissY AND Mantes, Argenteuil .... 144 

VI. St. Denis, Enghien, and Montmorency . . 161 

VII. St. Leu Taverny, the Abbaye du Val, and 

Pontoise 188 

VIII. EcouEN, RoYAUMONT, St. Leu-d'Esserent, Creil, 

Nogent-les-Vierges 199 

IX. Chantilly and Senlis 208 

X. Compiegne and Pierrefonds .... 224 

XL Nantouillet, Dammartin, and Ermenonville . 237 

XII. Vincennes and Brie-Comte-Robert . . . 242 

XIII. Meaux 254 

XIV. Fontainebleau 260 

XV. Corbeil, Savigny-sur-Orge, Montlhery, Etampes 282 

XVI. ScEAux, Chevreuse, and Limours . . . 298 

XVII. Meudon, Bellevue, Port Royal, Rambouillet . 313 

XVIII. Montfort-l'Amaury and Dreux ... 346 



Index 



355 



I. 

ST. CLOUD AND SEVRES. 

THERE are four ways of reaching St. Cloud, i. The pleas- 
antest is to drive through the Bois de Boulogne, which is 
very enjoyable, or (2) to take the American tramway — leaving the 
Place de la Concorde — which goes to Boulogne and the Pont de 
St. Cloud (fares, 55 c. and 35 c). 3. B)' the steamers (only in 
summer) — les Hirondelles parisiennes — which start every half-hour 
from the Quai des Tuileries opposite the Louvre (fares, week- 
days, 30 c. ; Sundays, 50 c), and pass Sevres (see below). 4. By 
rail from the Gare St. Lazare, which is the more ordinary way, if, 
as is often the case, St. Cloud be visited on the way to another 
point of interest. 



The railway-line passes — 

Zk. Coiirbevoie, where Louis XV. built magnificent 
barracks, which still exist. Under the Empire they were 
used for the Imperial Guard. The plain is now full of 
villas and gardens. 

\ok. Fiiteaux, with pretty views over the "^^ine, and 
rich cherry orchards. 

12^. Suresnes (the ancient Surisnae), where the cou- 
ronnement (ftme rosiere takes place annually on the Sunday 
nearest to August i, at the church in the valley on the left. 
Suresnes is at the base of Mo7it- Valerien, originally the site 
of a calvary and hermitage, now of a famous fortress. 
There is a splendid view across the Bois de Boulogne to 



2 BAYS NEAR PARIS 

Paris. Jean Jacques Rousseau admired it with Bernar- 
din de Saint-Pierre. 

"Paris reared in the distance her towers, covered with 
light, and seemed to crown the wide landscape. This spectacle 
contrasted with the heavy, leaden clouds which succeeded each 
other to the west, and appeared to fill the valley. As we walked 
in silence, contemplating the spectacle, Rousseau said to me, * I 
will come, this summer, and meditate here.'" — BernardUi de St. 
Pierre. 

\^k. St. Cloud (Hotel de la Tete Noire, Place Royale; 
Hotel du Chateau, at the entrance of the Avenue du Cha- 
teau and the pare : endless restaurants). 

Very near the station is the Chateau de St. Cloud, set 
on fire by the bombs of Mont-Valerien, in the night of Oc- 
tober 13, 1870, and now the most melancholy of ruins. 
Sufficient, however, remains to indicate the noble charac- 
ter of a building partly due to Jules Hardouin and Man- 
sart. The chateau is more reddened than blackened by 
the fire, and the beautiful reliefs of its gables, its statues, 
and the wrought-iron grilles of its balconies are still per- 
fect. Grass, and even trees, grow in its roofless halls, in 
one of which the marble pillars and sculptured decorations 
are seen through the gaps where windows once were. 
The view from the terrace is most beautiful. 

The name of St. Cloud comes from a royal saint, who 
was buried in the collegiate church, pulled down by Marie 
Antoinette (which stood opposite the modern church), and 
to whose shrine there is an annual pilgrimage. Clodomir, 
King of Orleans, son of Clovis, dying in 524, had be- 
queathed his three sons to the guardianship of his mother 
Clotilde. Their barbarous uncles, Childebert and Clo- 
taire, coveting their heritage, sent their mother a sword 
and a pair of scissors, asking her whether she would pre- 
fer that they should perish by the one, or that their royal 



ST. CLOUD 3 

locks should be shorn with the other, and that they should 
be shut up in a convent. " I would rather see them dead 
than shaven," replied Clotilde proudly. Two of the princes 
were then murdered by their uncles, the third, Clodo- 
wald, was hidden by some faithful servants, but fright 
made him cut off his hair with his own hands, and he en- 
tered a monastery at a village then called Nogent, but 
which derived from him the name St. Clodowald, corrupted 
into St. Cloud. 

Clodowald bequeathed the lands of St. Cloud to the 
bishops of Paris, who had a summer palace here, in which 
the body of Frangois I. lay in state after his death at 
RambouilJet. His son, Henri II., built a villa here in 
the Italian style ; and Henri III. came to live here in a 
villa belonging to the Gondi family, whilst, with the King 
of Navarre, he was besieging Paris in 1589. The city was 
never taken, for at St. Cloud Henri was murdered by 
Jacques Clement, a monk of the Jacobin convent in Paris, 
who fancied that an angel had urged him to the deed in a 
vision. 

"Jacques Clement left Paris on the 31st of July, and took 
the road to Saint Cloud. At the outposts of the besiegers, he met 
the Procureur General La Guesle, who had accompanied the 
army, and told him that he brougly; to the king ' letters and news 
of the servants he had in Paris.' La Guesle took him to his 
lodgings, interrogated him, and was so satisfied with his replies, 
that he went at once to tell the king. Jacques announced that 
the royalists in Paris were prepared to seize one of the gates of 
the city. He supped gaily with La Guesle's people, and slept so 
soundly that he was obliged to be aroused to go to the king. 
Henri, after having read the passport and the forged credentials, 
ordered the monk to approach. Jacques declared that he had 
matters of importance to say to the king in secret. The captain 
of the Guard, Larchant, and even La Guesle, the introducer of 
the monk, opposed in vain a private interview between Clement 
and the king ; but Henri, although he had received many warn- 



4 DA YS NEAR PARIS 

ings that his life was in danger, ordered La Guesle and Belle- 
garde, the grand equerry, who was near him, to retire some paces, 
and ' lent an ear' to the Jacobin. An instant afterwards, the 
king uttered a great cry, * Ah, the wretched monk, he has killed 
me ! ' Brother Jacques had drawn a knife out of his sleeve, and 
plunged it into the lower part of the abdomen. 

" Henri started up, plucked the dagger from the wound, from 
which the bowels immediately protruded, and struck the assas- 
sin on the face. La Guesle rushed at the monk, and knocked 
him down with a sword-cut ; the 'guard in ordinary,' the Forty- 
five, ran in at the king's cries, and massacred the murderer on 
the spot. They left to the executioners only a dead body. Henri 
expired on the 2d of August, 1589, between two and three in the 
morning, at the age of thirty-eight. 

" So were avenged, at once, Coligni and Guise ; so were ful- 
filled the vows of popular hatred ; God had extinguished the 
race of Valois ! " — H. Martin, " Hist, de France." 

From this time the house of the banker Jerome Gondi, 
one of the Italian adventurers who had followed the fort- 
unes of Catherine de Medicis, was an habitual residence 
of the Court. It became the property of Hervard, Con- 
troller of Finances, from whom Louis XIV. bought it for 
his brother Philippe d'Orleans, enlarged the palace, and 
employed Lenotre to lay out the park. Monsieur married 
the beautiful Henriette d'Angleterre, youngest daughter of 
Charles I., who died here (June 30, 1670) with strong 
suspicion of poison ; St. Simon affirms the person em- 
ployed to have confessed to Louis XIV. having used it at 
the instigation of the Chevalier de Lorraine (a favorite of 
Monsieur), whom Madame had caused to be exiled. One 
of the finest sermons of Bossuet describes the " nuit desas- 
treuse, oil retentit comme un eclat de tonnerre cette eton- 
nante nouvelle : Madame se meurt ! Madame est morte ! 
Au premier bruit d'un mal si etrange, on accourt a Saint- 
Cloud de toutes parts, on trouve tout consterne, excepte le 
cceur de cette princesse." 



ST. CLOUD 5 

In the following year Monsieur was married again to 
the Princess Palatine, when it was believed that his late 
wife appeared near a fountain in the park, where a servant, 
sent to fetch water, died of terror. The vision turned out 
to be a reality — a hideous old woman, who amused her- 
self in this way. " Les poltrons," she said, '" f aisaient tant 
de grimaces, que j'en mourrais de rire. Ce plaisir noc- 
turne me payait de la peine d'avoir porte la hotte toute la 
joumee." 

Monsieur gave magnificent fetes to the Court at St. 
Cloud, added to the palace with great splendor, and 
caused the great cascade, which Jerome Gondi had made, 
to be enlarged and embellished by Mansart. It was at 
St. Cloud that Monsieur died of an attack of apoplexy, 
brought on by over-eating, after his return from a visit to 
the king at Marly. 

''Judge what confusion and disorder was at Marly that 
night, and what horror at Saint Cloud, that palace of delights, 
Ever}^ one at Marly hastened as best they could to St. Cloud, the 
soonest ready the first ; and all, men and women, pressed and 
crowded into the carriages without ceremony or order. Mon- 
seigneur went with Madame la Duchesse. In the state in which 
he was, the shock was so great, that it was all that one of the 
Duchesse's grooms, who happened to be there, could do, to drag 
and carry him almost trembling into the carriage. Monsieur had 
not a moment of consciousness after the first attack ; not even a 
gleam for an instant, except when Father de Trevoux came in 
the morning to say mass, and even this gleam did not return. 

"The most terrible spectacles often present moments of 
ridiculous contrasts. Father de Trevoux came back and cried to 
Monsieur, 'Monsieur, do not you know your confessor? Do 
not you know good little Father de Trevoux who is talking to 
you ? ' and this made the less afflicted laugh indecently. 

"The king appeared very much distressed; he was natu- 
rally prone to weep, and he was therefore in tears. He had 
never occasion except to love Monsieur tenderl)^ and although 
they had not been on good terms for two months, these sad mo- 



^ Davs ^eAr pari^ 

ments recalled all his tenderness ; perhaps he reproached himself 
for having precipitated the death by the scene of the morning ; 
he was, too, two years younger, and had all his life been in as 
good or better health than he. The king heard mass at Saint 
Cloud, and, at eight in the morning, Monsieur being beyond 
hope, Mme de Maintenon and Mme the Duchesse de Bourgogne 
persuaded him not to remain longer, and returned with him in his 
carriage. As he was about to leave, and made some kindly re- 
marks to M. de Chartres, both of them weeping much, the young 
prince took the opportunity of saying, ' Eh, Sire, what will be 
my fate ? ' embracing his knees ; * I lose Monsieur, and you do 
not love me.' The king, surprised and much touched, embraced 
him and made all the aflfectionate remarks he could. On his ar- 
rival at Marly, he and the Duchesse de Bourgogne went to the 
apartments of Mme de Maintenon. Three hours afterwards, M. 
Fagon, to whom the king had given orders not to quit Monsieur 
till he was dead or better, which could only happen by a miracle, 
entered, and the king, as soon as he saw him, said, ' Well, M. 
Fagon, my brother is dead?' 'Yes, Sire,' replied he, 'no rem- 
edy would act.' The king wept profusely. He was urged to 
take some food in the rooms of Mme de Maintenon, but he re- 
fused and wished to dine as usual with the ladies, and tears 
coursed down his cheeks often during the repast, which was 
short. He then shut himself up with Mme de Maintenon till 
seven o'clock, when he took a turn in the garden. He transacted 
business with Chamillart, and then with Pontchartrain respecting 
the ceremonies on the death of Monsieur, and then gave his order 
to Desgranges, the master of the ceremonies. He took supper 
an hour earlier than usual, and soon after went to bed. He had 
received at five o'clock a visit from the King and Queen of Eng- 
land, which lasted only for a minute. 

"On the departure of the king, the crowd gradually dimin- 
ished at Saint Cloud, so that Monsieur, in his dying moments, 
was left on a lounge in his cabinet, exposed to the scullions and 
lower servants, most of whom, from interest or affection, were much 
distressed. The high officers of the household, and others who 
lost their places or pensions, made the air resound with their 
cries, while all the ladies who were at Saint Cloud, and lost all 
their amusements, ran here and there, like dishevelled bac- 
chantes. 

" Madame was in her cabinet meanwhile ; she had never had 
any great esteem or affection for Monsieur, but felt her loss and 



ST. CLOUD y 

her fall ; and in the midst of her grief, cried with all her force, 
' No convent ! Do not speak to me of a convent. I will not 
have a convent ! ' The good princess had not lost her senses. 
She knew that by her marriage contract, she had to choose, on 
becoming a widow, between a convent or the chateau of Mont- 
argis for a residence. Whether she thought she could quit one 
easier than the other, or whether she felt how much reason 
she had to fear the king, although she did not yet know all, and 
he treated her with the usual courtesy, she had still greater fear 
of a convent. When Monsieur was dead she entered her carriage 
with her ladies, and went to Versailles, accompanied by M. and 
Mme the Duchess de Chartres, and the whole of their suites. 

" After such a terrible sight, so many tears, and such displays 
of affection, every one expected that the three days that remained 
of the visit to Marly would be exceedingly melancholy. But on 
the very evening of Monsieur's death, when the ladies of the palace 
entered the apartments of Mme de Maintenon, where she was, 
and the king with her, and the Duchess de Bourgogne, about 
noon, they heard in the adjoining room were they where, the 
party singing some operatic airs. Shortly afterwards the king, 
seeing Mme the Duchess de Bourgogne very sad in the cor- 
ner of the room, asked Mme de Maintenon, with surprise, what 
made her so melancholy, and began to cheer her up, and then to 
play with her and some of the ladies of the palace, whom he sum- 
moned to amuse them. Nor was this the only strange occur- 
rence. After dinner — that is, a little after two o'clock, twenty-six 
hours after Monsieur's death — the Duke de Bourgogne asked the 
Duke de Montfort if he would like a game of cards. * Cards ! ' 
cried Montfort, in extreme astonishment ; ' do not you know that 
Monsieur is not cold yet!' 'Pardon me,' said the prince, 'I 
know it, but the king wishes every one at Marly to be amused, 
and has ordered me to set all to cards, and for fear that there 
should be some reluctance in beginning, to give the example my- 
self.' They formed a party, and the salon was soon filled with 
card-tables." — St. Sitnon, '' M^tnoires" 1701. 

The chateau continued to be occupied by Madame, 
daughter of the Elector, the rude, original, and satirical 
Princess Palatine, in whom the modern House of Orleans 
has its origin,^ and here she died during the regency of 
her son. 

^ Henri Martin, xiii. 355. 



g DA YS NEAR PARIS 

"Madame was a princess of the olden times, attached to 
honor, virtue, rank and grandeur, and inexorable as to good 
manners. She was not deficient in intelligence, and what she 
saw, she saw clearly. A good and faithful friend, sure, true, up- 
right, easy to alarm and shock, very difficult to reconvert, brusque, 
prone to dangerous sallies in public, very German in all her ways, 
frank, regardless of all delicacy or reserve for herself or for 
others, severe, stern, and taking fancies. She loved dogs and 
horses, hunting and public performances ; was always in a man's 
great-coat or wig, and a riding dress. For sixty )^ears, ^vell or 
sick, and she was seldom that, she had never used a dressing- 
gown." — St. Simon, '' Memoir es.'' 

The Regent d^Orleans, nephew of Louis XIV. ^ received 
Peter the Great at St. Cloud in 17 17. In 1752 his grand- 
son^ Louis Philppe d'Orleans, gave at St. Cloud one of the 
most magnificent fetes ever seen in France. 

"28 Sept. La fete de Saint-Cloud a ete magnifique et popu- 
laire : tout le peuple de Paris y a couru, de fa9on qu'il etait 
entierement dehors dimanche, et que, le lendemain, c'etait en- 
core une procession de tout le peuple qui revenait. Toutes les 
vignes de la plaine vis-a-vis Saint-Cloud ont ete ravagees, et le 
roi a remis a ces vignerons la taille pour trois ans." — Barbier, 
'^Journal" 

In 1785 the Due d'Orleans sold St. Cloud for six mil- 
lion francs to Queen Marie Antoinette, who made great 
alterations in the internal arrangements of the building, 
where she resided during the early days of the Revolution. 

" One day, during a visit of the court to Saint Cloud, I was 
witness of a ver)-- affecting scene, which we took care not to 
divulge. It was four o'clock in the afternoon, the guard was not 
mounted, there was almost nobody that day at Saint Cloud, and 
I was reading to the queen, who was working at her frame, in 
one of the rooms that had a balcony opening on the court. The 
windows were closed, but we heard a dull sound from a number 
of voices, that seemed to speak only in suppressed tones. The 
queen told me to see what it was ; I raised the muslin curtain, 
and saw, beneath the balcony, over fifty persons. This group 
was composed of ladies, old and young, all dressed in the costume 



. ST. CLOUD g 

usual in the country, some old Chevaliers de Saint-Louis, some 
young Knights of Malta, and a few ecclesiastics. I told the 
queen that it was probably a reunion of some societies from the 
neighboring country districts, who wished to see her. She rose, 
opened the window, and appeared on the balcony, and then all 
this good people said to her in a low voice, ' Have courage, Ma- 
dame, the French suffer for you and with you ; they pray for 
you, and Heaven will hear them ; we love you, we respect you, 
and we reverence our exemplary king.' The queen burst into 
tears, and raised her handkerchief to her eyes. ' Poor queen, 
she weeps ! ' the ladies said, but the fear of compromising her 
Majesty and the persons who displayed such affection, inspired 
me to take her Majesty's hand with an intimation that I wished 
her to return to the room ; then, raising my eyes, I gave the 
company to understand that prudence dictated my action. They 
judged so too, for I heard, ' She is right, that lady,' and then, 
' Adieu, Madame,' uttered in accents so full of truth and sad- 
ness, that, when I recall them, after the lapse of twenty years, I 
am still moved." — Af??ie Campan. 

It was at St. Cloud that the coup d'etat occurred which 
made Napoleon first-consul. This led him to choose the 
palace of St. Cloud, which had been the cradle of his 
power, as his principal residence, and, under the first em- 
pire, it was customary to speak of " le cabinet de Saint- 
Cloud,'' as previously of " le cabinet de Versailles," and 
afterwards of " le cabinet des Tuileries." Here, in 1805, 
Napoleon and Josephine assisted at the baptism of the 
future Napoleon III. 

" Dimanche, a trois heurs apres-midi, Leurs Majest^s Im- 
periales, suivies de la cour, se rendirent a Saint-Cloud pour 
le bapteme du prince Napoleon-Louis, fils de S. A. L Mgr. 
Louis. Cette ceremonie a ete faite avec la plus grande pompe 
par Sa Saintet^, L'imp^ratrice etait pr6c6d6e par les pages, les 
ecuyers, et les chambellans de S. M. ; a droite de I'imperatrice 
6tait sa dame d'honneur et, un peu en arriere, son premier aumS- 
nier ; a sa gauche, son premier 6cuyer, sa dame d'atours ; un 
page portait la queue de la robe de S. M." &c. — Le Moniteur, 27 
Mars, 1805. 



15 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

It was also in the palace of St. Cloud that Napoleon I. 
was married to Marie Louise, April i, 1810. 

In this palace of many changes the allied sovereigns 
met after the fall of the first empire. Blucher, after his 
fashion, slept booted and spurred in the bed of Napoleon ; 
and the capitulation of Paris was signed here July 3, 18 15. 

Louis XVIII. and Charles X. both lived much at St. 
Cloud, and added to it considerably; but here, where 
Henri IV. had been recognized as King of France and 
Navarra, Charles X. was forced by the will of the people 
to abdicate, July 30, 1830. Two years after, Louis Phi- 
lippe established himself with his family at St. Cloud, and 
his daughter Clementine was married to Duke Augustus 
of Saxe-Coburg in its chapel, April 28, 1843. Like his 
uncle, Napoleon III. was devoted to St. Cloud, where — 
" d'un coeur leger " — the declaration of war with Prussia 
was signed in the library, July 17, 1870, a ceremony fol- 
lowed by a banquet, during which the " Marseillaise " was 
played. The doom of St. Cloud was then sealed. On 
the 13th of the following October the besieged Parisians 
beheld the volumes of flame rising behind the Bois de 
Boulogne, which told that St. Cloud, recently occupied by 
the Prussians, and frequently bombarded in consequence 
from Mont-Valerien, had been fired by French bombs. 

In the Lower Park of St. Cloud, an avenue, entered 
from the Place Royale, and bordered on one side by 
booths and shops, leads at once to the foot of the Grande 
Cascade. 

But visitors will generally start on a (short) walk from 
the chateau, at the back of which they will find the 
gardens (Pare Reservd), the Petit Pare of Marie Antoi- 
nette, now always open to the public. The walk, between 
the flower-beds, facing the chateau, leads to the water called 



GARDENS OF ST. CLOUD ti 

Piece de la Grande Gerbe, whence in a few minutes a cross- 
way is reached, formed by the Alices de Versailles, de la 
Fclicite, and de la Lantcrne, If we follow, to the left, the 
Allee de la Lanterne, we reach at once the terrace, where 
the Belvidere of Napoleon I. formerly stood, known as the 
Lanterne de Diogene, and destroyed during the siege of 
Paris in 1870. The view towards Paris is most interest- 
ing and beautiful. There is some idea of erecting a 
Crystal Palace, like that of Sydenham, on this site ! 

Following the Allee du Chateau as far as a grassy am- 
phitheatre, a path on the right leads down to the lower 
walks at Le grand Jet d^Eau, or Jet de la Grande Gerbe, 
which (when it plays) is 42 metres in height. 

" Persuadez aux yeux, que, d'un coup de baguette, 
Une fee, en passant, s'est fait cette retraite. 
Tel j'ai vu de Saint-Cloud le bocage enchanteur 
L'oeil de son jet hardi mesure la hauteur ; 
Aux eaux qui sur les eaux retombent et bondissent, 
Les bassins, les bosquets, les grottes applaudissent, 
Le gazon est plus vert, Fair plus fraix, des oiseaux 
Le chant s'anime au bruit de la chute des eaux ; 
Et les bois, inclinant leur tiges arrosees, 
Semblent s'epanouir a ces douces rosees." — Delille. 

Hence, a few steps bring us to La Grande Cascade, the 
most magnificent of the " grandes-eaux," which plays from 
4 to 5 P.M. on the second Sunday of every month in sum- 
mer, and on the three Sundays of the fete de St. Cloud, 
which lasts from three to five weeks from the first Sunday 
in September. The upper part of the cascade is due 
to Lepautre, by whom it was constructed for Monsieur, 
brother of Louis XIV. ; the lower to Mansart. The two 
cascades are completely harmonious, though separated by 
the walk called Allee de Tillet, from a house which once 
occupied the site. True Parisians of the middle classes 



12 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



have no greater pleasure than a day spent at St. Cloud — 
"pour voir jouer les eaux." 

At the end of one of the principal avenues, Allee de 
Breteuil, below the Alle'e du Chateau, is the Pavilion de 
Breteuil^ built by the Bailli de Breteuil, Chancellor of the 
Duke of Orleans. 

Joining the park of St. Cloud is that of Villeneuve 
VEtang^ which belonged to the Duchesse d'Angouleme, 




LA GRANDE CASCADE, ST. CLOUD. 



who frequently resided there as Dauphine, during the reign 
of Charles X., devoting herself to the education of her 
nephew, afterwards Comte de Chambord. It was here 
that, a fortnight before the revolution of 1830, which drove 
her from France, she received a visit — accompanied by 
vehement demonstrations of loyalty and affection — from 
Louis Philippe. 

The favorite summer retreat of Napoleon III. — where 
the garden still retains the seat of the Empress Eugenie, 



SEVRES 13 

and the swing and miniature railway of the Prince Imperial 
— is now occupied by the dog-kennels and experiments of 
M. Pasteur. 

Between St. Cloud and Versailles, with a station on the 
railway, is Ville d^Avray (Restaurant de la Chaumiere), 
with pools surrounded by wood, constantly painted by 
Corot, to whom a monument (by Dechaune) has been 
erected, near the house which he occupied. Marc Antoine 
Thierry, first valet de chambre of Louis XVI., built a 
chateau here, below which was a (still existing) fountain, 
whose pure waters, exclusively reserved for the king's table, 
were daily sent for from Versailles. 



The steamer descends the Seine, passing under the 
Pont de Solferino, Pont de la Concorde, Pont des Invalides, 
and Pont d'Alma. Then the Champ de Mars is seen on 
the left, the Palais du Trocad^ro on the right. After the 
Pont d'lena, Passy is passed on the right, and the He des 
Cygnes on the left. Then comes the Pont de Crenelle, 
after which Auteuil is passed on the right and Javel on the 
left. After leaving the Pont-viaduc du Point-du-Jour, the 
He de Billancourt is seen on the left. After the Pont de 
Billancourt, the steamer passes between the lies de Billan- 
court and Seguin to Bas Meudon. Hence, skirting the 
heights of Bellevue, it reaches its sixth station — 

Sevres (Severa). — Here, very near the river, at the end 
of the bridge, is the famous Manufacture de Porcelaine, open 
daily to visitors from 12 to 4 from October i to March 31, 
and from 12 to 5 from April i to September 30. The 
workshops are only supposed to be visible on Mondays, 
Thursdays and Saturdays, with an order from the adminis- 
tration, but strangers are generally admitted. 



14 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

A china manufactory, which had already existed at 
St. Cloud, Chantilly, and Vincennes, was first established 
here in 1756, and having been bought from its owners in 
1760, at the instigation of Mme de Pompadour, by Louis 
XV., became thenceforth a royal manufacture. 

"The manufactory of Sevres had no competition to fear ; for 
the decree of the Council of 1780 forbade any private enterprise, 
under pain of fine and confiscation, for the manufacture of ' all 
sorts of articles or pieces of porcelain, painted or unpainted, gilt 
or ungilt, flat or in relief, in sculpture, flowers and figures.'" — 
Paul Lacroix, Dix-huitieme siecle. 

The collections shown are divided into the Exposition 
des produits de Sevres and the Miisee Cera?nique. In the 
ateliers, visitors are shown the three processes of le Tour- 
nage, le Cotilage, and la Ctiisson des pates et des emaux. 

The village of Sevres clusters round the church of .5"/. 
domain, which dates from the XIII. c, but has been much 
altered at different times. In the cemetery is the tomb of 
Senancour — the poet of the first Revolution — with the 
words of his choice (from his ''Libres Meditations"), 
'* Eternite, deviens mon asyle ! " 

If the traveller enters the park of St. Cloud by the 
Sevres gate, a few minutes bring him to an avenue leading 
to the extremity of a piece of water which ends in the 
Grande Cascade. 



II. 

VERSAILLES. 

SUMMER visitors to Versailles should, if possible, be there 
on a Sunday, when the grandes eaux are playing. This fairy 
scene is advertised in the newspapers, at the Gare de I'Ouest, and 
on the omnibuses which serve the station. 

Nothing can prevent a visit to Versailles from being exceed- 
ingly fatiguing. There is too much to be seen for one day. 
Even superficial visitors should give one day at least to the inte- 
rior of the palace, and another to the gardens and the Trianons. 

If an attempt be made to see the whole in one day, a carriage 
should certainly be taken from the Palace to the Trianons. 

The palace is visible daily, except Mondays, from 12 to 4. 
Visitors are allowed to wander unattended. 

The park and gardens are visible daily from 6 A.m. to 8 p.m. 
The fountains play about 4 p.m. on the first Sunday of every 
month in summer, except the Bassin de Neptune, which only plays 
from 5 to 5.30 p.m. 

The Grand Trianon, Mus^e des Voitures, and Petit Tiianon 
are shown daily, except Monday, from 12 to 4. Visitors are here 
hurried round by a guide. 

"WvQ palace chapel xs shown on production of a passport. 

All the sights of Versailles are open/r<?^ to the public. 

The galleries of the palace are very cold in winter. 



There are three ways of reaching Versailles, i. The pleas- 
antest, by the tramway from the Quai du Louvre (interior, i fr. ; 
imperiale, 85 c). Trams every quarter of an hour from 8 a.m. 
The road crosses the Seine at Sevres, passes through Chaville 
and Viroflay, and ends at the Place d'Armes at Versailles, on the 
side opposite the palace, at the angle of the Rue Hoche. 



1 6 t>AYS NEAR PARIS 

2. By rail from the Gar-e St. Lazare (rive droite) in 35 min. 
express : 50 min. slow trains. The line is the same as that to St. 
Cloud. There are omnibuses (30 c), and tramway (25 c. and 
15 c), and carriages (i fr. 25 c. the course : i fr. 50 c. the hour, 
without pourboire) from the station to the palace. On leaving 
the station, pedestrians must turn left by the Rue Duplessis. 
Reaching the market, turn right by Rue de la Paroisse to the 
church of Notre Dame, built by Hardouin-Mansart, 1684-86 ; 
then turn left, passing the statue of General Hoche (born at Ver- 
sailles, 1768) to the Place d'Armes, where you find the palace on 
your right. 

3. By rail from Gare Montparnasse (very far from the English 
quarter of Paris) by Clamart, Meudon, and Belleville, described 
in Ch. xvii. From the station at Versailles, take the Avenue 
Thiers, then (right) the Avenue de Sceaux, which will lead to the 
Place d'Armes, opposite the palace. 

Tickets : Single — First class, i fr. 65 c. ; second class, i fr. 
20 c. Return — First class, 3 fr. 30 c. ; second class, 2 fr. 40 c. 
On Jours des gratides eaux : Return — First class, 3 fr. 30 c. ; sec- 
ond class, 2 fr. 40 c. Returji tickets are available by either line. 

Carriages for drives in the neighborhood of Versailles cost 2 
fr. an hour, or 2 fr. 50 c. on Sundays and fete days. 

Hotels': des Reservoirs (which faced the mansion of the Princes 
de Conde, where La Bruyere died) ; de Finance. 

Restaurant : du Muse'e, Rue des Reservoirs, good and rea- 
sonable. 

" Venez, suivez mon vol au pays des prestiges, 
A ce pompeux Versailles." — Delille, '^ Jardins." 

"Versailles .... 

Ou les rois furent condamnes a la magnificence." 

Voltaire, ' ' Henriade. " 

The first palace of Versailles was a hunting lodge built 
by Louis XIII. at the angle of the present Rue de la 
Pompe and Avenue de St. Cloud. This he afterwards 
found too small, and built, in 1627, a moated castle, on 
the site of a windmill in which he had once taken shelter 
for the night. The buildings of this chateau still exist, re- 
spected, as the home of his father, in all the alterations of 



THE CREATION OF VERSAILLES 



17 



Louis XIV., and they form the centre of the present 
palace. In 1632 Louis XIII. became seigneur of Ver- 
sailles, by purchase from Frangois de Gondi, Archbishop 
of Paris. 

The immense works which Louis XIV. undertook here, 
and which were carried out by the architect Mansart, were 
begun in 166 1, and in 1682 the residence of the Court was 
definitely fixed at Versailles, connected by new roads with 
the capital. Colbert made a last effort to keep the king 
at Paris, and to divert the immense sums which were 
being swallowed up in Versailles to the completion of the 
Louvre. 

' It is, Sire, a very difficult task that I am undertaking ; for 
nearly six months I have been hesitating about saying to your 
Majesty what I said yesterday, and what I am going to say 
further. . . . Your Majesty knows, that, apart from brilliant 
actions in war, nothing marks so strongly the grandeur and 
genius of princes as their buildings, and that posterity always 
measures them by the standard of the superb edifices they erected 
in their lives. What a pit}'-, if the greatest and most exemplary 
of kings . . . should be measured by the standard of Versailles ! 
And there is always this danger to fear. While your Majesty has 
expended very large sums on this house, the Louvre has been 
neglected, and it is assuredly the most superb palace in the 
world, and the most worthy of your grandeur ; and may God 
grant that so many occasions that may necessitate the entrance on 
some great wars may not deprive you of the means of completing 
this superb building.' " — Guillaumot. 

The ver}' dulness of the site of Versailles, leaving 
everything to be created, was an extra attraction in the 
eyes of Louis XIV. 

"Colbert wished the king to be what Richelieu had been, 
France personified ; that he should be the thought, as Paris was 
the head of France, and that the thought, so to say, should not 
be divorced from the brain where it was developed. 

" Louis, on the contrary, tended insensibly to absorb France 



1 8 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

into his personality, to be the State instead of expressing and 
representing the State ; to be by himself and for himself instead 
of being by and for France. Paris galled and burdened him. 
He felt his greatness cramped in that queen city which did not 
owe its origin to him, and enveloped him in its gigantic arms ; he 
hated that power of the people that had humiliated his childhood 
and more than once overcome his predecessors. Jealous of 
Paris, he was jealous even of the shadow of his own ancestors, 
or at least he did not wish to be subject to their memories. If 
he preferred his palaces to Paris, he preferred Versailles to his 
other palaces, because Fontainebleau, Chambord, Saint-Germain 
had been already created, and were edifices on which Francis I. 
and Henri HI. had left ineffaceable marks of their glory. At 
Versailles, all was to be still created, except the modest starting- 
point given by Louis XHL, the little palace of his father, which 
the Great King would respect from filial piety which cost his 
pride nothing. Louis XIV. did not fear the recollections of 
Louis XIII. 

"At Versailles, we have said, all was to be created, not only 
monuments of art, but nature herself. This lonely plain, pleas- 
ing enough from the woods and hills that surround it, had no 
wide views, no sites, no water, no inhabitants ; it was a favorite 
withotit ?nerit, as a contemporary^ wittily remarked. But it was 
a merit to have no merit of its own, and to owe everything to its 
master. What Louis did in the choice of his palace, one day, 
we may fear, he will do in the choice of his generals and ministers ! 

"There are no sites, no water, and no inhabitants at Ver- 
sailles ; the sites will be created by creating an immense land- 
scape of human handiwork ; the water will be brought from all 
the region by works that terrify the imagination ; the inhabitants 
will be made, if we may so say, to spring from the earth by build- 
ing a whole large city for the attendants on the chateau. Louis 
will thus make a city for himself, a form for himself of which he 
alone is the soul. Versailles and the Court will be the bod)'^ and 
soul of one and the same being, both created for the same end, 
the glorification of the god on earth to whom they owe their 
existence." — Martin, ''Hist, de France." 

The great difficulty to be contended with in the creation 
of Versailles was the want of water, and this, after various 

^ Le due de Crequi. 



THE CREATION OF VERSAILLES 19 

Other attempts had failed, it was hoped to overcome by a 
canal which was to bring the waters of the Eure to the 
royal residence. In 1681, 22,000 soldiers and 6,000 horses 
were employed in this work, with such results of sickness, 
that the troops encamped at Maintenon, where the chief 
part of the work was, became unfit for any service. On 
October 12, 1678, Mme de Sevigne writes to Bussy- 
Rabutin : — 

*' The king wished to go to Versailles, but it seems that God 
did not wish it, to judge from the impossibility of getting the 
buildings in a state to receive him and by the prodigious mor- 
tality among the workmen, whose corpses were carried away 
every night by cartloads. This sad procession was concealed lest 
it should alarm the artisans and decry the healthfulness of this 
'favorite without merit.' You know this bon mot about Ver- 
sailles." 

Nine millions were expended in the Aqueduct of 
Maintenon, of which the ruins are still to be seen, then it 
was interrupted by the war of 1688, and the works were 
never continued. Instead, all the water of the pools and 
the snow falling on the plain between Rambouillet and 
Versailles was brought to the latter by a series of subter- 
ranean water-courses. 

No difficulties, however — not even pestilence, or the 
ruin of the country by the enormous cost — were allowed to 
interfere with "les plaisirs du roi." The palace rose, and 
its gigantic gardens were peopled with statues, its woods 
with villages. 

" The first works at Versailles were directed by the same Le- 
vau, from whom Colbert had taken the Louvre. Levau dying in 
1670, the direction of the works, with the title of first architect of 
the king, was entrusted to a very young man, Jules Hardouin 
Mansart, whose uncle, Fran9ois Mansart, had enjoyed a great 
reputation in architecture, and contributed more than any one 
else to push builders into a servile imitation of the antique. The 



20 DA YS NEAR PARIS 

nephew eclipsed the uncle, and became the Lebrun of architect- 
ure. The small but picturesque chateau of Louis XIII. was sur- 
rounded by immense constructions, nearly in the style of Per- 
rault, which present to the eye a richly ornamented story raised 
on a simpler basement and crowned by an attic. On the Paris 
side, where the chateau of Louis XIII. remains in view, the con- 
trast between it and the new buildings makes Versailles an irreg- 
ular pile, but one of a singular and striking effect, by the arrange- 
ment of the three courts gradually diminishing in size to the third, 
a kind of sanctuary in the depths of which the Royal Majesty re- 
posed. On the other side, the aspect changes as by enchantment ; 
there, everything is the work of Louis XIV., everything is new 
and completely symmetric. The vast development of the hori- 
zontal lines compensate for the want of elevation. There none 
of the happy contrasts of the old national architecture are to be 
seen. The monotony of this absolute uniformity is only inter- 
rupted by the extreme projection of the centre before the two 
wings, a projection which proclaims it the part of the palace con- 
secrated by the presence of the master. This centre predomi- 
nates, whether it is viewed in front from the middle of the garden, 
or whether from the foot of the low hills of Satory, it is seen, in 
flank, towering on its immense terrace, between the double 
'Giant Stairs,' to which nothing can be compared. Ever3'-where 
an ascent has to be mounted, in order to reach the spot where 
Supreme Majesty sits enthroned. 

"The same thought fills the interior. Painting there deifies 
Louis in every form, in war and peace, in art and in the adminis- 
tration of the empire ; it celebrates his loves and his victories, 
his passions and his labors. All the heroes of antiquity, all the 
deities of Olympus render homage to him in lending him their 
attributes in turn. He is Augustus, he is Titus, he is Alexander, 
he is Jupiter Tonans, he is Hercules vanquishing monsters ; 
more often, he is Apollo inspiring the Muses, and King of Light. 
Mythology is nothing more than a great enigma to which the 
name of Louis is the only answer, his name alone among all the 
gods. If the gods abdicate before him, kings and nations are 
prostrated at his feet. As his reign rolls lengthening on, art re- 
produces on canvas or in marble, in a strain of hyperbole, each 
of his triumphs, and each humiliation of his enemies, and fixes 
on the brilliant vaults of Versailles a perpetual hosanna in honor 
of the future master of the world. 

" His age, prolific in men of talent, served Louis in all his 



THE CREATION OF VERSAILLES 2I 

desires, and gave him a third artist, Lenostre, to complete Lebrun 
and Mansart. Thanks to Lenostre, Louis from the windows of 
his incomparable galerie des glaces, saw nothing that was not his 
creation. The whole horizon is his work, for his garden embraces 
the whole horizon ; it is at once the master-piece of the marvellous 
artist who covered France with his monuments of verdure, and 
the master-piece of that singular art which must be judged not in 
isolation, but in reference to the buildings to whose lines it unites 
its lines, an architecture of vegetation which frames and completes 
the architecture of stone and marble. Entire groves were 
brought, full grown, from the depths of the finest forests of 
France, and the art of animating marble and the art of mov- 
ing water, fill them with all the wonders of which imagination 
could dream. An innumerable people of statues animate the 
thickets and the lawns, is reflected in the waters or rises from the 
bosom of the waves. All the deities of the woods, the rivers and 
the sea, all the dreams of ancient poetry seem to have gathered at 
the feet of the great king. Neptune seems to send forth from all 
sides his jets of waters that cross in thd air in sparkling curves ; 
Neptune becomes the servant of Louis ; Diana, the solitary god- 
dess of the woods, becomes his mistress under the lineaments of 
the chaste La Valliere. Apollo, his favorite symbol, presides 
over all this enchanted world. At the two extremities of the view 
is seen the mythological sun, the transparent emblem of the sun 
of Louis, rising from the floods in his car to enlighten and rule 
the world, and plunging into them again to cast aside the govern- 
ment of heaven in the voluptuous shadow of the grotto of Thetis. 
" Louis' will was fulfilled. He created around him a little 
universe, in which he was the only necessary being, and almost 
the only real being." — Martin, '^ Hist, de France y 

Oh ! que Versailles 6tait superbe 
Dans ces jours purs de tout affront 
Ou les prosperites en gerbe 
S'6panouissaient sur son front ! 
La, tout faste 6tait sans mesure ; 
L^, tout arbre avait sa parure ; 
L^, tout homme avait sa dorure ; 
Tout du maitre suivait la loi. 
Comme au meme but vont cent routes, 
L^ les grandeurs abondaient toutes ; 
L'Olympe ne pendait aux voutes 
Que pour completer le grand roi ! 



22 DA YS MkAR PARIS 

Vers le temps ou naissaient nos peres 
Versailles rayonnait encore. 
Les lions ont de grands repaires ; 
Les princes ont des palais d'or. 
Chaque fois que, foule asservie, 
Le peuple au coeur ronge d'envie 
Contemplait du fond de sa vie 
Le fier chateau si radieux, 
Rentrant dans sa nuit plus livide, 
II emportait dans son ceil vide 
Un 6blouissement splendide 
De rois, de femmes et de dieux ! 

Victor Hugo, ''Les Voix Interieures," 

Under Louis XV., Versailles was chiefly remarkable as 
being the scene of the extravagance of Mme de Pompa- 
dour and the turpitude of Mme du Barry. Mme Campan 
has described for us the life, the very dull life, there of 
" Mesdames," daughters of the king. Yet, till the great 
Revolution, since which it has been only a shadow of its 
former self, the town of Versailles drew all its life from the 
chateau. 

"The life of this secondary town is the same as the life of 
the chateau, and the life of the chateau is known at the end of 
one day's examination. What was done one day will be done, 
exactly, the next ; and whoever knows one day, knows the whole 
year." — Tableau de Paris, 1782. 

" Since the days of the Caesars, no single human life occu- 
pied so much space beneath the sun. In the Rue des Reservoirs 
were the old and the new hotels of the Governor of Versailles, 
the hotels of the governor of the children of the Count d'Artois, 
the garde-meuble of the crown, the building for the lodgings and 
dressing-rooms of the actors playing at the Palace, Monsieur's 
stables ; in the Rue des Bons-Enfants, the hotel of the ward- 
robe, the lodging of the managers of the water- works, the hotel of 
the officers of the Comtesse de Provence ; in the Rue de la 
Pompe, the hotel of the Grand Provost, the stables of the Duke 
of Orleans, the hotel of the guards of the Comte d'Artois, the 
queen's stables, the pavilion of the Springs ; in the Rue Satory, 
the stables of the Comtesse d'Artois, Monsieur's English garden, 



THE CREATION OF VERSAILLES 



n 



the king's ice-houses, the riding-school of the light horse of the 
King's Guard, the garden of the hotel of the treasurers of the build- 
ings. From these four streets, judge of the rest. You cannot 
take a hundred steps in this city without meeting an appendix to 
the palace ; hotel of the staff of the body-guards, hotel of the 
staff of the light horse ; the immense hotel of the body-guard, the 
hotel of the gendarmes of the guard, hotels of the Grand Lou- 
vetier, the Grand Falconer, the grand huntsman, the grand master, 
the commander of the canal, the controller-general, the superin- 
tendent of buildings, the hotel of the chancellery, the buildings 
of the falconry and aviary, of the boar-hounds, the great kennel, 
the dauphin's kennel, the kennel of the so-called green hounds, the 
hotel of court carriages, the warehouse of the buildings and fur- 
niture, workshops and storerooms for the same, the grand stable, 
the little stable, other stables in the Rue de Limoges, in the Rue 
Royale, and the Avenue de Saint Cloud ; the king's kitchen gar- 
den, comprising twenty-nine gardens and four terraces, the grand 
conwiun, inhabited by two thousand people, houses and hotels 
styled Louis, where the king assigned lodgings for a time or for 
life. These words on paper cannot give the physical impression 
of the physical immensity. To-day only bits remain of that an- 
cient Versailles, mutilated and appropriated to other uses ; but go 
and see them nevertheless. Look at the three avenues that meet 
in the grand square, forty toises wide, four hundred long, and 
which still were not too large for the crowd, the movement, the 
giddy speed of escorts dashing out headlong, and carriages driv- 
ing a tombeau ouvert ; see, in front of the chateau, the two stables, 
with their railings of thirty-two toises, that cost in 1682 three 
millions, that is to say, fifteen millions of to-day, so simple and 
so beautiful that, under Louis XIV. himself they were used at 
one time for a field for the cavalcades of the princes, at another, 
for a theatre, and at another for a ball-room. Then follow with 
your eye the development of the gigantic semicircular Place, 
which, from railing to railing, from court to court, went on rising 
and closing, at first between the hotels of the ministers, then be- 
tween the two colossal wings, to end in the haughty enclosure of 
the marble court, where pilasters, statues, pediments, ornaments, 
multiplied and piled up stage after stage, lift to heaven the ma- 
jestic sternness of their lines and the overcharged display of their 
ornamentation. According to a manuscript, stamped with the 
arms of Mansart, the palace cost 153 millions, that is, about 750 
millions of to-day. When a king wishes to display himself, this 



24 ^^ ^-S NEAR PARIS 

is the price of his dwelling. Now cast your eyes to the other 
side, to the gardens, and the display of ro3'alty becomes more 
clear. The parterres and the park are a salon in the open air ; 
nature has there nothing, natural ; it is entirely arranged and 
straightened out with a view to society ; it is not a place to be 
alone and stretch one's self, but a spot to walk in company and 
exchange salutations. The upright hornbeams are walls and 
hangings. The clipped )^ews figure as vases and lyres. The par- 
terres are carpets with borders. In these straight, rectilinear 
alleys the king, cane in hand, will gather round him all his suite. 
Sixty ladies, in gold-embroidered robes, puffed out over hoops 
twenty-four feet in circumference, can walk without inconve- 
nience on the steps of these stairs. These cabinets of verdure can 
shelter a princely banquet. Under the circular portico all the 
lords who have the entry to the chamber can join in witnessing 
the play of a new fountain. They will find their parallels even 
in the figures of marble or bronze that people the alleys and the 
basins, in the dignified countenance of an Apollo, in the theatri- 
cal air of a Jupiter, in the high-world ease and studied careless- 
ness of a Diana or a Venus. The gods themselves are of their 
world. Stamped by the efforts of a whole society, and of a whole 
age, the imprint of the court is so strong that it is graven on de- 
tails as well as on the whole, on things material as well as on 
things spiritual." — Taine, " Orig. de F7-ance Contemporaine ." 

Approaching from the town, on entering the grille of 
the palace from the Place d'Armes we find ourselves in 
the vast Cour des Statues — " solennelle et morne." In the 
centre is an equestrian statue of Louis XIV. by Fetitot and 
Cartellier. Many of the surrounding statues were brought 
from the Pont de la Concorde at Paris. Two projecting 
wings shut in the Cour Royale, and separate it from the 
Cour des Princes on the left, and the Cour de la Chapelle 
on the right. Beyond the Cour Royale, deeply recessed 
amongst later buildings, is the court called, from its pave- 
ment, the Cour de Marbre, surrounded by the little old 
red Chateau of Louis XIII. 

" Instead of entirely destroying the little chateau and making 
a new vast plan, the king, in order to save the old chateau, built 



COURT OF THE PALACE 25 

all around it and covered it, in a fashion, with a beautiful mantle 
which spoiled all." — Corres^ondance de Madame. 

The Cour de Marbre was sometimes used as a theatre 
under Louis XIV., and the opera of Alcestis was given 
there. It has a peculiar interest, for no stranger can look 
up at the balcony of the first floor without recalling Marie 
Antoinette presenting herself there, alone, to the fury of 
the people, October 6, 1789. 

*' All was sobs and confusion around their Majesties, while 
the queen, with noble and touching firmness, consoled and en- 
couraged everybody. ' I have the courage to know how to die,' 
she said, ' but I would wish, at least, that those who are vile 
enough to play the part of assassins should have the conscious- 
ness of their crime, that is, show themselves as they are.' Some 
time afterwards, when the ministers had arrived in the king's 
apartments, some gun-shots were discharged in the courts, and 
directed against the windows of the room of her Majesty. It was 
told me that M. de la Luzerne, minister of marine, having seen a 
ball strike the wall near the window where the queen stood, ad- 
vanced and glided, as if from curiosity, between her and the 
window. The motive of the movement did not escape the queen. 
* I see,' she said to M. de la Luzerne, 'what your intention is, 
and I thank you, but I do not wish you to remain there. It is 
not your place, it is mine.' And she forced him to retire. . . . 

*' Her Majest}"- appeared for the second time at the balcony. 
At this second appearance a voice demanded, ' The queen on the 
balcony ! ' The princess, who was never so great or more noble 
than when danger was most imminent, presented herself without 
hesitation on the balcony, holding the Dauphin in one hand and 
Madame Royale in the other. A voice then exclaimed, ' No 
children ! ' The queen, by a backward movement of the arms, 
pushed the children back into the room and remained alone on 
the balcony, crossing her arms on her breast with a countenance 
of a calm nobility and dignity impossible to depict, and seemed 
to wait for death. This act of resignation so astonished the 
assassins and inspired such admiration in the mob that a general 
clapping of hands and ' Bravo ! long live the queen ! ' repeated on 
all sides, disconcerted the malevolent. Nevertheless, I saw one 
of the madmen aim at the queen, and his neighbor strike down 
with his hand the barrel of the gun." — Weber, " M/moires.^' 



26 DA VS NEAR PARIS 

The palace of Versailles has never been inhabited by 
royalty since the chain of carriages drove into this court 
on Oct. 6 to convey Louis XVI. and his family to Paris. 

" Yes, The king to Paris : what else ? Ministers may consult, 
and National Deputies wag their heads ; but there is now no 
other possibility. You have forced him to go willingly. ' At 
one o'clock ! ' Lafayette gives audible assurances to that pur- 
pose ; and universal insurrection, with immeasurable shout, and 
a discharge of all the fire-arms, clean and rusty, great and small, 
that it has, returns him acceptance. What a sound ; heard for 
leagues ; a doom-peal ! And the Chateau of Versailles stands 
ever since vacant, hushed, still, its spacious courts grass-grown, 
responsive to the hoe of the weeder." — Carlyle. 

From the Grande Cour the gardens may be reached by 
passages either from the Cour des Princes on the left, or 
from the Cour de la Chapelle on the right. The palace has 
had three chapels in turn. The first, built by Louis XIII., 
was close to the marble staircase. The second, built by 
Louis XIV., occupied the site of the existing Salon 
d'Hercule. The present Chapel^ built 1 699-1 710, is the 
last work of Mansart. 

" This beautiful chapel of Versailles, as far as workmanship 
and decoration are concerned, which cost so many millions, and 
is so badly proportioned that it seems a charnel house high above 
ground, threatening to crush the chateau, was made so by a trick. 
Mansart only took into account the proportions of the tribunes 
and designedly built this horrible elevation above the chateau in 
order, by its deformity, to compel the raising of the chateau by 
an additional story. Without the breaking out of the war, dur- 
ing which he died, this would have been done." — St. Simon, 
'' M/moires." 

"Louis XIV. did not like domes, and when he asked his 
favorite architect, Hardouin-Mansart, whom he had just named 
superintendent of buildings in place of the Marquis de Villecerf, 
who died in 1699, for the plan of the chapel of Versailles, he was 
careful to say, as his only instruction, ' Above all, no dome ! * " — 
Paul Lacroix. 



THE CHAPEL gy 

Here we may think of Bossuet, thundering before 
Louis XIV. " les royaumes meurent, sire, comme les rois," 
and of the words of Massillon, " Si Jesus-Christ paraissait 
dans ce temple, au milieu de cette assemblee, la plus 
auguste de I'univers, pour vous juger, pour faire le terrible 
discernement," &c. Here also we may imagine Louis 
XIV. daily assisting at the mass, and his courtiers, es- 
pecially the ladies, attending also to flatter him, but gladly 
escaping, if they thought he would not be there. 

" Brissac, major of the body-guard, could not abide any du- 
plicity. He was annoyed at seeing all the tribunes lined with 
ladies in the winter at the salut on Fridays and Sundays, when the 
king almost never failed to be present, while very few were there 
when it was known in time that he would not come, and under 
the pretense of reading their 'hours,' they all had little tapers 
before them, so that they could be recognized and remarked. 
One evening when the king was going to the sahit, and while the 
evening prayers were being said which preceded the salut, all the 
guards at their posts, and the ladies in their places, the major 
came, towards the end of the prayers, and, showing himself in the 
vacant seat of the king, raised his baton and cried in a loud tone : 
' Royal Guards, withdraw ! Back to your quarters ! The king 
will not come.' The guards obeyed at once, there were murmurs 
among the ladies, the little tapers were put out, and soon they 
had all left, except the Duchess de Guiche, Mme de Dangeau, 
and one or two others who remained. Brissac had placed some 
subaltern officers at the exits of the chapel to stop the guards, 
and order them back to their posts, as soon as the ladies were so 
far away as to have no suspicions. Thereupon the king arrived, 
and, much surprised not to see the tribunes filled with ladies, 
asked how it happened that no one was there. On leaving the 
ceremony, Brissac told him what he had done, not without enlarg- 
ing on the piety of the court ladies. The king, and all with him, 
laughed very much. The story spread immediately, and all the 
ladies would have liked to strangle him." — St. Si?non,'' M/moires" 
1708. 

"I remember an edifying and beautiful discourse by Massil- 
lon that was interrupted by a burst of laughter from the Duchesse 
de Boufflers. The text was, ' Happy are the peoples whose kings 



28 i^A YS NEAR PARIS 

are of ancient race.' There was certainly nothing in it of a nature 
to provoke peals of laughter, but every time the sacred text was 
repeated by the lips of the orator, M. de Villeroy, Governor of H. 
M,, was melted to tears and sobbed while gazing in an obsequious 
manner on the king, and made such grimaces that the poor young 
lady would not resist it, which made a great sc2indi2i\.''— Souvenirs 
de la Marquise de la Criqui. 

The carefully organized system of etiquette was ob- 
served nowhere more carefully than in the chapel, espe- 
cially when the king communicated. 

"After the elevation of the Host, a fauld-stool was placed 
below the altar at the spot where the priest begins service ; it was 
covered with a cloth, and then with a large piece of linen hanging 
down before and behind. At the Pater Nosier, the almoner of the 
day rose and whispered into the king's ear the names of all the 
dukes present in the chapel. The king gave him two names ; always 
those of the oldest, to each of whom the almoner, immediatel}' 
afterwards, advanced and made a reverence. The priest having 
communicated, the king rose and went to kneel, without carpet 
or hassock, before the fauld-stool, and took hold of the linen ; then 
the two dukes who had been warned, and who, with the captain of 
the guards on duty, had alone risen from their hassocks and fol- 
lowed him, the oldest on the right, the other on the left, took hold 
at the same time as the king, each of one corner of the linen, which 
they held on the king's side, while the two almoners in attendance 
held the other two corners on the side next the altar, all four on their 
knees, and the captain of the guards also, w^ho knelt alone behind 
the king. After the communion and ablution, the king remained 
a little longer in the same place, and then returned to his seat, 
followed by the captain of the guards and the two dukes, who 
resumed their places. If a son of France was there alone, he 
alone held the right corner of the linen napkin, and no one held 
the other ; and when the Duke of Orleans was there and no son 
of France, the same form was kept. A prince of the blood, if 
present, took no part in the service with him, but if only a prince 
of the blood was present, one duke, instead of two, was warned, 
and he served on the left, with the prince of the blood on the right 
hand," — St. Si??ion, 1707. 

It was in the chapel that the flattery of royalty took its 
strongest form. 



THE CHAPEL 29 

"When Mme the Dauphiness celebrated Easter, there were 
* select hosts ' for this princess ; God evidently displayed a select 
real presence for the daughter-in-law of the great king." — Dan- 
geau. 

In the devotion which characterized the last years of 
Louis XIV.'s life, he was constantly in the chapel. We 
read in a letter of Mme de Maintenon (1686) : — 

" The king was at matins last night ; he heard three masses ; 
he was at high mass to-day, after which he went to see Madame, 
with whom he passed an hour. He went also to Mme the Dau- 
phiness, and thence to sermon. He heard musical vespers." 

At this time he had become equally severe as to the 
religious practice and the dress of his courtiers, male as 
well as female. 

" The courtier, of olden times, wore his hair, had trunks and 
pourpoint, wore large canons, and was a libertine. This is out 
of place now. He wears a Avig, a tight coat, close stockings, 
and is pious. Everything is regulated by fashion." — La Bruyerc, 
'' De la Mode:' 

We are able to picture the scene in this chapel during 
the last moments of Louis XV. 

" It was evening; the royal family and all the court were 
prostrate in the superb and imposing chapel of the chateau. The 
sacrament was exposed, the prayers of forty hours chanted, and 
supplications offered to God for the recovery of the dying mon- 
arch. Suddenly black clouds veiled the sky, night seemed to 
envelop the chapel in its shades, and the first peal of thunder 
was heard ; soon came the whistling winds, the torrents of rain 
dashing against the windows, the lightning flashes, which every 
instant made the tapers lighted on the altar turn pale, and sent an 
awful gleam through the melancholy obscurity ; then the dull roll- 
ing, or the threatening crash of the thunder that seemed to rend 
the veil of the temple ; the songs of the church continued through 
the tempest, the impression of terror in every voice and on every 
face ; heaven thundering while the God of mere}'' was invoked ; 
the war of all the elements, which it was impossible not to asso- 
ciate in thought with the destruction of the most powerful of men, 
the sight of the young heir and his young companion, both ap- 



30 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



palled, both weeping between the altar, which they implored in 
vain, the tomb into which they saw their father descending, and 
the throne which they shuddered to mount ; then the departure 
from the chapel when the service was over, the abstraction, the 
deep silence, in which no voice was heard, but only hasty steps, 
as each hurried to his room, in order to breathe freely from the 
weight that oppressed him. This scene was also reckoned among 
the threatening auspices under which the new reign opened." — 
Weber, ' ' M^fu oires . ' ' 

On Sundays mid fete days there is always a musical low 
mass in the chapel at 9 a.m. 

In describing the Musee, the apartments are taken in 
the order in which they are usually visited, and which it is 
better to follow, if one does not wish to be lost. All the 
furniture of Versailles was sold during the Revolution (in 
1793), and, though a few pieces have been recovered, the 
palace is for the most part unfurnished, and little more 
than a vast picture-gallery. From the antechamber of the 
chapel open two galleries on the ground floor of the north 
wing. One is the Galerie des Sculptures ; the other, divided 
by different rooms looking on the garden, is the Galerie 
de mistoire de France, The first six rooms of the latter 
formed the apartments of the Due de Maine, the much in- 
dulged son of Louis XIV. and Mme de Montespan. 

Where there are such acres of pictures, and where all 
are named, we only notice here those which are remarkable 
as works of art or of historic interest connected with the 
place itself. 

Salle IV.— 

Ary Scheffer. The Death of Gaston de Foix at the Battle 
of Ravenna. 

Salle VIII.— 

Pezey. Louis XIV. receiving the Oath of Dangeau, Grand- 
Master of the Order of St. Lazare ; a picture interesting here as 
representing the original chapel. 



THE SALLE DE V OPERA 31 

Salle XL — Pictures illustrative of the life of Louis 
XVI. 

At the end of the gallery (but only to be entered now 
from the Rue des Reservoirs) is the Salle de T Opera. In 
spite of the passion of Louis XIV. for dramatic represen- 
tations, no theatre was built in the palace during his reign. 
Some of the plays of Moliere and Racine were acted in 
improvised theatres in the park ; others, in the halls of the 
palace, without scenery or costumes ; the Athalie of Racine, 
before the king and Mme de Maintenon, by the young 
ladies of St. Cyr. The present Opera House was begun 
by Jacques Ange-Gabriel under Louis XV. for Mme de 
Pompadour, and finished for Mme du Barry. 

" Disposition des plus heureuses, grandioses d'ensemble et 
de style, richesse et harmonie de details, tout se trouve r^uni pour 
faire de cette salle un incomparable chef-d'oeuvre." — Vaudoyer. 

The Opera House was inaugurated on the marriage of 

the Dauphin with Marie Antoinette, and nineteen years 

after was the scene of that banquet, the incidents of which 

were represented in a manner so fatal to the monarchy, 

given by the body-guard of the king to the officers of a 

regiment which had arrived from Flanders. 

"The king was informed of the ardent enthusiasm that 
animated this assembly of loyal chevaliers, and the oath which 
these soldiers had renewed to defend, to the last gasp, the masters 
who had hitherto been an object of veneration and love to their 
people. Their Majesties and their children came with a slender 
suite to honor and embellish this assemblage by their presence. 
They were invited by M. the Comte de Tesse, equerry of the 
queen, and by the Comte d'Agoult, major of the Life Guards, 
who, struck by the sight of the house, the number of guests, the 
effect of the horse-shoe table, the lighting of the hall, and the 
throng of spectators grouped in the boxes, justly believed that 
such a spectacle could not but interest the royal family. It 
entered at first the first boxes opposite the stage. The musicians 
struck up, amidst loud applause, the popular air, ' Ou peut~on 



32 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



etre mieux quau sein de sa famille?^ The air was accompanied 
with redoubled acclamations. ' Vive le roi ! vive la reine ! vive la 
famille royalel' The august family was soon requested to descend 
and make the tour of the room. Marie Antoinette, by an irre- 
sistible impulse, imitating her august mother, took the Dauphin 
by the hand and led him around the tables, proud of displaying 
to the generous defenders of the throne the fair child who was 
the presumptive heir. At the view of so much majesty and 
grace, such beauty and innocence, the intoxication of feeling and 
admiration rose to a climax ; tears of sensibility filled every eye 
and the music gave out the touching strains from Richard Coeur 
de Lion : 

' Richard I mon roi ! 
L'univers fabandonne.'' 

"This air, which made such a striking allusion to the situation 
of Louis XVI., and which had been for some time forbidden in 
France, was repeated in chorus from all the benches. Never was 
there so loyal a concert, never did a purer sentiment electrify a 
whole assembly. The august countenances of the king and 
queen bore, on that evening, the imprint of contentment and 
happiness in place of the melancholy the}'^ had exhibited for 
many months. 

" In the evening, the ladies of the Court formed with pieces 
of white paper some cockades that they distributed in the private 
rooms of the chateau to the body-guards and the officers they met 
on their way. All this was done in gaiety and simplicity, and 
ought not to have been regarded as out of the French character ; 
it was the expression of great devotion for the king and his 
family. How could such a demonstration of joy in the royal 
palace be regarded as a crime ?" — Weber, " M^moires." 

Returning from the end of the picture gallery, we may 

pass through the Galerie des Sculptures^ chiefly casts from 

royal and other monuments. Some, however, are brought 

from Paris churches destroyed at the Revolution, and 

amongst these we may especially notice, beginning at the 

entrance — 

1879, 1880. The Due de Vitry, Marechal de France, and his 

wife, 1666. 
1892. Henri ChabOt, Due de Rohan. By Fran5ois Anguier, 



ATTIQUE DU NORD 33 

1885. Louis Potier, Marquis de Gesvres, 1643. By Lehongr. 

1883. Rene Potier, Due de Tresmes, 1670. 

1898. Frangois d'Argouges, first President of the Parliament 

of Brittany. By Coysevox. 
1915. Ferdinand Philippe Louis, Due d'Orleans, 1842. By 

Pradier. 
1901. Philippe d'Orleans, Regent of France. By Lemoyne. 
*i854. Jeanne Dare. By Princess Marie d'Orleans, daughter 

of Louis Philippe. 

"If it does not give the enthusiastic majesty of Jeanne, at 
least it gives her purity, her grace and her resigned devotion. It 
is the work of a j'^oung woman less illustrious by her blood than 
by her talent and noble character, whose early end all France 
has to regret." — Martin, " Hist, de France." 

Near (left) a cast from the great monument of Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella, we enter a suite of five rooms formerly 
occupied by the ladies and gentlemen in waiting, adorned 
with modern historic pictures, and known from their sub- 
jects as Salles des Croisades. Returning to the Galerie de 
Sculpture and following it to the vestibule of the chapel, 
we must now take the little staircase on the left of the 
chapel, which will conduct us to another vestibule of the 
chapel on the first floor. Here we enter (right) the sec- 
ond Galerie de Sculpture^ from the midst of which we reach 
the Salles de Peinture, called Galerie de Constantin, a set 
of seven rooms adorned with modern historic pictures and 
busts, some of them very interesting as representing the 
Court, surroundings, life, campaigns, and battles of Napo- 
leon III., the idol of France at the time they were exe- 
cuted. 

Returning from these rooms to the Galerie de Sculpture^ 
and, turning at the end, we reach the landing, where we 
find a staircase which leads us up to the second floor, the 
Attique du Nord^ panelled with part of the vast Versailles 
collection of portraits, chiefly copies and poor as works of 



24 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

art, but including a few of great interest, especially here, in 
the palace where so many of the originals lived and died. 
Turning to the left by the door opposite the stairs, we 
enter — 

Salle /, where we may notice with interest as originals : 

3052. Charles VII. XVI c. 
3116. Frangois I. XVI c. 
3118. Claude de France. 
3121. Renee de France. 

3198. Don Carlos, Infant of Spain. Attributed to Sir A. 
More. 

Salle II.— 

yi^l. Porbus : Henri IV. as a child, at the time when he had 

to be flogged to make him go to mass. 
3347. Mirevelt: Maurice de Nassau. 

Salle III— 

3367. Simon Vouet : Louis XIII. 

It used to be said of Louis XIII., " II ne dit pas tout ce qu'il 
pense ; il ne fait pas tout ce qu'il veut ; il ne veut pas tout ce 
qu'il pent." 

3391. Philippe de Champaigne : Cardinal de Richelieu. 

Richelieu described his own character to the Marquis de la 
Vieuville : " Je n'ose rien entreprendre sans y avoir bien pens6, 
mais quand une fois j'ai pris ma resolution, je vais a mon but, je 
renverse tout, je fauche tout, et ensuite je couvre tout de ma 
soutane rouge." 

Salle IV,— ' , 

3443. Testelin : Chancellor Seguier. 

3441. Anne of Austria. 

3488. Lebrun : Vicomte de Turenne, Marechal de France. 

3445. Testelin : Louis XIV. as a boy. 

3445, Henrietta Maria, Queen of England. 

" Her vivacity deprived all her actions of that gravity that is 
necessary to persons of her rank, and her soul was too much car- 
ried away by her feelings." — Mme de Motteville, 



ATTIQUE DU NORD 3^ 

Salle V,— 

3624. Mignard : Anne Marie de Bourbon, Mile de Blois, 
afterwards Princess de Conti, as a child. 

" 27 Dec. 1679. All the court rejoiced at the marriage of M. 
the Prince de Conti and Mile de Blois. They were like lovers in 
romances ; the king made great sport of their affection. He 
spoke tenderly to her, and assured her that he loved her so much 
that he did not wish to lose her ; the child was so moved and de- 
lighted that she wept. The king said he could see well enough 
what aversion she had for the husband whom he had chosen for 
her. She redoubled her tears, and her little heart could not con- 
tain her joy. The king told the little scene, and it gave pleasure 
to every one. As for M. de Conti, he was transported, and did not 
know what he was saying or doing ; he walked over everybody 
who came in his wa}'^, in his haste to see Mile de Blois. Mme 
Colbert did not wish him to see her till evening, but he broke 
through the guards, and flung himself at her feet and kissed her 
hand. She embraced him without more ado, and began to weep 
again. This good little princess is so tender and so pretty that 
one would like to eat her." — Mine de S^vigni. 

3052. Schmitz {after Mignard) : Mme de la Valliere and her 
two children. 

" In the midst of her highest fortune, she had herself painted 
by Mignard, with her two children, and holding in her hand a 
pipe from which hung a soap-bubble with the legend : ' Sic transit 
gloria mundi J" " — Hoefer. 

4304. Frangoise Marie de Bourbon, Duchesse d'Orl6ans, and 
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse : 
children of Louis XIV. and Mme de Montespan. 

3553. Louis de France, " Le Grand Dauphin." 

"He is the most incomprehensible man in the world ; he is 
not stupid, yet always acts as if he were. This arises from his 
insensibility and his indifference." — Correspondance de Madame, 
1699. 

" He is the most difficult man in the world to entertain, for 
he never says a word." — Mme de Maintenon. 

3500. Louis XIV. 

3545. Carlo Maratta : Lenotre. 

" Illustrious for having been the first to design the beautiful 



36 ^A YS NEAR PARIS 

gardens that adorn France, Lenotre had such probity, upright- 
ness and integrity, that all loved and esteemed him." — St. Simon. 

Salle VL — 

3629. Mignard : Philippe de France, grandson of Louis 
XIV., afterwards Philippe V. of Spain, as a child. 

3578. Hyacinthe Rigaud : Mignard. 

" L'elegante portraitiste des dames de la cour." — Henri Mar- 
tin. 

3586. Detroy : Jules Hardouin-Mansard, Surintendant des 
batiments du roi. 

" He was a large man, well made, with a pleasing face, sprung 
from the dregs of the people, but with much natural talent, all 
directed to please and attract, without, however, ever getting clear 
of the roughness acquired in his early condition." — St. Simon, 

3579, Gilles Alloa : Coysevox. 

Salle VII.— 

3640. Rigaud : Jean Baptiste Keller. 
3566. Vivien : Fenelon. 

"With the most deep-seated probity, the most ardent and 
most sincere hunger and thirst for truth, the most scrupulous 
purity, the presence of God always felt in every deed or situation 
of his daily life, to whom he referred with a holy jealousy the 
most important and the most trivial actions." — St. Simon. 

" He had merely skin over his bones and his eyes deep-set in 
his head, but he talked very pleasantly ; he was polished and even 
gay. He laughed readily and liked to talk without reserve." — 
Correspondance de Madame. 

Salle VIII— 

3640. Rigaud: Keller. 

3673. Rigaud : Louise Antoine de Pardaillan, Due d'Antin, 
legitimate son of Mme de Montespan. 

"Beautiful as the day when young, he preserved great re- 
mains of it to the end of his life, but it was a masculine beauty, 
and a face full of intelligence. No one had more charm, mem- 
ory, light, or knowledge of men and of each man. Coarse by 
nature, gentle and polished by judgment, he sacrificed everything 
to ambition and riches," — St. Simon. 



ATTIQliE DU NORD 3y 

3637. Mignard : Frangoise d'Aubigne, Mme de Maintenon. 

"Always under constraint, at first to gain a living, then to 
rise, then to reign, she was never happy, and deserved neither the 
exaggerated satires nor praises of which she was the object." — 
Duclos. 

" L'envie de faire un nom 6tait ma passion," she wrote to her 
pupils at St. Cyr. 

" Mignard, when painting Mme de Maintenon as Sainte Fran- 
9oise of Rome, asked the king, smiling, if in order to adorn the 
picture, he might dress her in an ermine mantle. 'Yes,' said the 
king, ' Sainte Frangoise deserves one.' This portrait is the most 
beautiful one of her in existence All the courtiers ad- 
mired it ; the attribute of royalty did not escape notice." — De la 
Beaumelle, *^ M/moires de Mme de Maintenon.^* 

"Madame, I have seen the most beautiful thing that can be 
imagined, a portrait of Mme de Maintenon by Mignard ; she is 
dressed as Sainte Fran5oise of Rome ; Mignard has embellished 
her, but it is without insipidity, without red or white, without the 
air of youth, without all her perfections, and he presents to us a 
face beyond all that can be described, animated eyes, perfect 
grace, no gewgaws, and with all this no portrait comes before 
it." — Mme de Coulanges a Mme de S^vignd, Oct., 1694. 

3652. Rigaud: Dangeau (Philippe et Courcillon, Marquis de 
Dangeau). 

"A kind of man whose metal had lost its temper. All his 
capacity went no further than conducting himself well, injuring 
nobody, multiplying the breezes of flattery that surrounded him, 
and in acquiring, preserving, and enjoying a kind of consider- 
ation." — St. Simon. 

3661. Marie Louise d'Orleans, Duchesse de Berry, eldest 
daughter of Philippe, Due d'Orleans, and great- 
niece of Louis XIV., the most depraved of all 
French princesses — undutiful as a daughter, un- 
faithful as a wife, and most profligate as a widow 
during the regency of her father. 

" Born with superior intelligence, a striking face which pleas- 
antly arrested attention, she spoke with singular grace, and a nat- 
ural eloquence peculiar to her which flowed in an easy stream. 
What might she not have done with these talents, if the vices of 
her heart, spirit, and soul, and a most violent disposition, had not 



38 DA YS i^EAR PARIS 

turned so many fair gifts into the most dangerous poison? Im- 
measurable pride and the most continual treachery were, in her 
eyes, virtues on which she piqued herself, and irreligion, which she 
believed was an ornament to her wit, placed the climax on all 
the rest." — St. Simon. 

" She is not at all pretty. She is thick and short, long 
arms and short hips, she walks badly, and displays a want of 
grace in all she does ; she makes horrible grimaces, has a crying 
face, marked with the small-pox, red eyes — their color is clear blue 
— and a reddish face. But her neck, hands, and arms are per- 
fectly beautiful. With all this, her husband and her father im- 
agine that Helen was never so beautiful as the Duchesse de 
Berry." — Correspondance de Madame. 

" The question of her funeral oration caused such embarrass- 
ment, that at the end it was resolved not to have one." — M^moires 
de Madame. 

2084. Rigaud : Elizabeth Charlotte de Baviere, Duchesse 
d'Orleans — Madame, called by her intimates " Lise- 
Lotte." The Princess Palatine, second wife of Phi- 
lippe d'0rl6ans, only brother of Louis XIV. She is 
celebrated in all the memoirs of the time, and by her 
own published correspondence. 

"This princess was dressed up as a kind of Amazon, with a 
man's cloth coat laced at the seams ; she had a petticoat to match, 
a three-tailed wig like that of H. M., and a hat exactly like the 
king's, which she did not take off or lift while she was paying 
her respects to us, which, however, she performed with sufficient 
ease and ceremony. It is right to add that her vulgar Royal 
Highness had her feet in boots and a whip in her hand. She was 
badly formed, badly turned, badly disposed for everything and 
against everybody. She had a face like a russet apple, short, 
broad, high colored, not much nose, black eyes, animated, without 
any trace of wit — the kind of face we see everywhere." — Souvenirs 
de la Marquise de Cr/qui. 

" The rough, original, satiric Princess of Orleans, from whom 
the modern house of Orleans was to spring." — Henri Martin. 

3695. Rigaud : Louis XV. as a child. 
3682. Antoine Coypel: His own Portrait. 
3680. Rigaud : His own Portrait. 

"Rigaud, who made himself illustrious by leaving to pes- 



ATTIQUE DU NORD 39 

terity the living images of most of the great men of the age." — 
Henri Martin. 

3681. Largillieres : His own Portrait. 

3677. Mi^nard : La Comtesse de Feuquieres, daughter of the 
artist. 

" The marriage of a brother of Feuquieres, with the daugh- 
ter of the celebrated Mignard, the first painter of his time, 
who was dead, was a love match. Bloin, the first valet de 
chambre of the king, had been keeping her, to the knowledge of 
everj'^body, and induced the king to sign the contract of mar- 
riage." — St. Simon. 

3701. Santerre : Philippe, Due d'Orleans, Regent du Roy- 
aume. 

" He is like the child in the story to whose baptism all the 
fairies were invited ; one wished him a good figure, another elo- 
quence, another that he should learn all the arts ; a fourth, all the 
exercises — that is fencing, riding, dancing; a fifth, that he become 
skilled in the art of war; a sixth, that he be more courageous 
than any one. The seventh fairy had been overlooked in the in- 
vitations. *I cannot take from the child, ' she said, 'what my 
sisters have bestowed, but while life lasts, I shall be contrary, so 
that all the favors they have accorded will amount to nothing. 
Therefore, I will give him such a bearing that he shall seem lame 
and hump-backed ; I will make his beard grow so black and 
thick, from one day to another, and make him grimace like a day 
dreamer that he will be disfigured ; I will plunge him into such 
ennui that he will detest all the arts he cultivates — music, paint- 
ing, and drawing ; I will inspire him with a taste for solitude, and 
a horror of the society of honest people." — Correspondance de 
Madame {his mothet). 

3725. Santerre: Louise Adelaide d'Orleans, Mile de Chartres, 
abbesse de Chelles, daughter of the Regent. 

3711. Philippe V. of Spain (Philippe de France), grandson of 
Louis XIV. 

Galerie. — 
Z. 3769. Vanloo et Parrocel : Louis XV. on horseback, as a 

boy. 
3754- J' B. Vanloo : Marie Leczinska. 
3750. Rigaud: Louis XV. 



46 £>A ys NEAR PARIS 

3789. Tocqti/: Louis, Dauphin — " Monseigneur," son of 
Louis XIV. 

" He was perfection towards the king ; never had a son such 
respect, such obedience, such filial love for his father. This must 
be conceded to him ; it is the chief praise that can be given him." 
— Correspondance de Madame. 

3751. Vanloo : Louis XV. 

" Louis XV. had a most imposing presence. His eyes re- 
mained fixed on you all the time he was talking ; and in spite of 
the beauty of his features, he inspired a kind of dread." — Mme 
Camp an, 

3765. Cardinal de Fleury, Prime Minister under Louis XV. 
3741. Nattier : Anne Louise Benedicite de Bourbon-Conde, 
Duchesse du Maine. 

" She had courage in excess ; was enterprising, audacious, 
furious, knowing only the present passion, and postponing every- 
thing to it." — ^S"^. Simon. 

3752. Cozette : Louis XV. — a portrait in late life. 

"His manners in no way resembled his habits and tastes; 
his bearing was easy and noble, he carried his head with much 
dignity ; his look, without being severe, was imposing." — Mme 
Campan. 

3755. Tocqud : Marie Leczinska. 

•'The noblest model of all the religious and social virtues." 
— Mm.e Campan. 

"There could not be a better woman, nor one with less tact, 
than Marie Leczinska ; serious and austere, rigidly and often 
inopportunely devout, she did everything that could alienate a 
husband younger than herself." — Henri Martin. 

3791. C. Natoire : Louis Dauphin, son of Louis XV. 

" His virtues are known by every Frenchmen." — Mme Cam- 
pan. 

3805. Nattier: Madame Victoire, daughter of Louis XV., as 

a girl. 
3795. L. Tocqud : Marie Anne Christine Victoire de Baviere 

(La Dauphine), daughter-in law of Louis XIV., and 

mother of the Dues de Bourgogne and Berry, and of 

Philippe V. of Spain. 



ATTIQUE DU NORD 41 

"The king was extremely impatient to learn what she was 
like. He sent Sanquin, an honest man incapable of flattery. 
'Sire,' he said, 'saving the first look, you will be pleased with 
her.' The remark was an apt one, for there is something in her 
nose and brow which is too long in proportion to the rest, which 
at first produces a bad eflfect. But she has such grace, such beau- 
tiful arms, such beautiful hands, such a beautiful figure, such 
a beautiful neck, such beautiful teeth, such beautiful hair, so 
much wit and goodness, caressing without being insipid, familiar 
with dignity ; in fine, such charming manners that the first view 
must be pardoned." — Mme de Se'vign^. 

" I saw Madame la Dauphine, whose want of beauty is not at 
all shocking or disagreeable ; her face does not become her, but her 
wit does perfectly. She neither says nor does anything without 
showing that she has a good deal. She has lively, piercing eyes, 
she understands and comprehends ever)'^thing readily ; she is 
natural, and no more embarrassed nor astonished than if she had 
been borne in the Louvre. She exhibits the highest gratitude 
towards the king, but without baseness ; not as being below what 
she is to-day, but as having been chosen and distinguished from 
all Europe. She has a very noble air, and much dignity and 
goodness ; she loves verses, music, and conversation ; she is 
often four or five hours quite alone in her chamber, and is sur- 
prised at the exertions made to amuse her. She has shut the door 
on all mockery and malice." — Lettre de Mme de S^vignd, Mars, 
1680. 

"The good, honest, and dear Dauphine." — Correspondance de 
Madaine, Duchesse d' Orleans. 

3885. Tocqu^ : Gresset. 

3902. Madame Clotilde, Queen of Sardinia, sister of Louis 
XVL 

" This princess was a child so enormously large that people 
gave her the nickname of ' big madame.' " — Mme Campan. 

3993. Nivelon : Louis Dauphin. 

3819. Nattier: La Duchesse d'Orleans. 

3810. Drouais : Madame Sophie, daughter of Louis XV. 

" Madame Sophie, who united to the most unpleasant coun- 
tenance the most mediocre intellect, was an entirely passive per- 
sonage." — Mimoires de Besenval. 

3813. Nattier: Madame Louise, daughter of Louis XV., be- 
fore she took the veil. 



42 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

" Her soul was lofty and she loved great things. She could 
do only one splendid action, that of quitting a palace for a cell, 
rich vestments for a sackcloth gown. She did it." — Mme Campan. 

37g6. Marie Josephe de Saxe, la Dauphine, mother of Louis 
XVI. 

3806. Nattier: Madame Victoire. 

"Madame Victoire, good, gentle, affable, lived in the most 
charming simplicity in a circle that cherished her ; she was adored 
by her household." — Mme Campan. 

3872. Raphael Mengs : CAizx\QS,\\\. 

3791. Natoire: Louis de France, Dauphin. 

3890. Callet: Louis XVL 

"His features were those of his race, rendered somewhat 
heavier by the German blood of his mother, a princess of Saxony. 
Beautiful blue eyes, widely open, more limpid than sparkling, 
a round brow sloping backward, a Roman nose in which the soft, 
heavy nostrils modified a little the energy of the acquiline form, a 
smiling mouth with a gracious expression, thick lips well formed, 
a fine skin, a rich, rosy complexion, although somewhat flaccid, a 
short figure, a plump body, a timid attitude, and an uncertain 
gait." — Lamartine, ^^ Hist, des Girondins ."' 

" Serenity, sweetness and good-will are depicted on the king's 
face. We feel that no evil thought can approach him." — Karam- 
sine, 1790. 

3895. Mme Lebrim : Marie Antoinette. 

"The queen is still beautiful and majestic. Marie Antoinette 
is born to be a queen. Her bearing, her look, her smile, all 
indicate a superior being. It cannot be doubted but that her 
heart was deeply wounded. Well, she knew how to hide her 
grief, and not a cloud obscured the brilliancy of her beautiful 
eyes." — Karamsine, 1790. 

3802. Heinsius : Madame Adelaide, daughter of Louis XV., 

in late life. 
3783. Mme Guiard : Louise Elizabeth de France, "Madame 

rinfante," eldest daughter of Louis XV. 
3907. Mme Lebrun : Marie Therese de France, Madame 

Royale, and Louis Joseph Xavier, the first Dauphin, 

son of Louis XVI. 



ATTlQUE DU NORD 43 

Returning by the other side — 

3912. M77ie Lebriin : Louise Marie Adelaide de Bourbon, 

Duchesse d'Orleans (Mile de Penthievre). 
3865. Drouais : " Monsieur," afterwards Louis XVIII. 

"This heartless bel esprit, who will one day be Louis XVIII., 
a young man without youth, a cold, false heart, a sceptic who 
had imbibed from the age only negations." — Henri Martin. 

3899. Vanloo : Charles Philippe de France, Comte d'Artois, 
afterwards Charles X. 

"Obstinate, noisy, profligate, with an open heart and easy 
disposition, he had the defects of youth without striking qualities 
or a decided character." — Henri Martin. 

3809. Nattier: Madame Sophie. 

3802. Nattier: Mme Adelaide (called " Loque " by her 
father, Louis XV.). 

" Madame Adelaide had for an instant a charming face, but 
never did beauty disappear as rapidly as hers. She was imperious 
and impulsive ; abrupt manners, a harsh voice, and a curt pro- 
nunciation rendered her more than imposing." — Mme Campan. 

3901. Drouais: Le Comte d'Artois, afterwards Charles X. 

" Monseigneur d'Artois pulls the mask from a fair imper- 
tinent ; fights a duel in consequence — almost drawing blood. He 
has breeches of a kind new in this world — a fabulous kind ; 
'four tall lackeys,' says Mercier, as if he had seen it, 'hold him 
up in the air, that he may fall into the garment without vestige of 
wrinkle ; from which rigorous encasement the same four, in the 
same way, and with more effort, have to deliver him at night.' " — 
Carlyle. 

3704. Nivelon: La Dauphine — Marie Josephe de Saxe, mother 
of Louis XVI. 

3822. Fete given at the He d'Adam by the Prince de Conti. 

3887. Stag taken before the Chateau of L'lle d'Adam. 

3825. Supper " chez le Prince de Conti " at the Temple, with 
portraits of the Princesse de Beauvau, Comtesse de 
Boufflers, Comtesse d'Egmont, Marechale de Luxem- 
bourg, Prince d'Henin, President Renault, Pont de 
Vesle, Trudaine. The young Mozart, aged eight, is 
at the piano, accompanied by the celebrated G61iotte. 

3801. Nattier : Madame Adelaide. 



44 £>AV3 NEAH PAktS 

" Madame Adelaide was entirely deficient in that goodness 
which alone makes the great beloved. She carried too far the 
idea of the prerogatives of rank." — Mme Campan, 

3776. Tocqud : Abel Fran9ois Poisson, Marquis de Marigny, 

brother of Mme de Pompadour. 
3850. Carlo Vanloo : The painter and his family. 
3775. Boucher : Antoinette Poisson, Mme de Pompadour. 

"At a ball at the Hotel de Ville, a pretty mask, after having 
flirted a long time with his Majesty, let fall her handkerchief as 
she departed. Louis XV. picked it up and threw it to her. ' The 
handkerchief is thrown* the courtiers cried. They spoke truly." — 
Touchard-Lafosse. 

" 3830. Rigaud : Fran5ois Rene de Voyer de Paulmy — D'Ar- 
genson. 
3785. Drouais : Bouchardon, the sculptor. 
3743. Aved : J. B. Rousseau. 

"Jean Baptiste Rousseau had the face of Silenus and the 
figure of a vine-cutter." — Marquise de Cr^qui. 

Returning down the gallery, one enters — 

Salle VIII.— 

3958, Gdrard: Madame Adelaide. 
3960. Mme Guiard : Madame Victoire. 

3962. Elizabeth Philippine Marie H61^ne de France, " Ma- 

dame Elizabeth." 

"The pious Elizabeth, victim of her respect and tender 
attachment to the king, her brother, whose lofty virtues deserve 
the celestial crown." — Mme Campan, 

3963. Carteaux : Louis XVL on horseback. 

3970. Drouais: " Monsieur," afterwards Louis XVIIL 
3974. Drouais: Le Comte d'Artois, afterwards Charles X. 

Redescending the staircase, we reach, on the second 
floor, La Galerie des Peintures. The order in which the 
palace must be visited has here the inconvenience of re- 
versing the chronological order of the pictures. 

Salle I. — 

1810. Court: The Due d'Orl6ans signs the proclamation of 
La Lieutenance-g6n6rale. 



ATTIQUE DU NORD .. 

1814, 1815. Heim: The Chamber presents to the Due d'Or- 
leans the Act which calls him to the throne. 

1822. Biard: King Louis Philippe in the midst of the Na- 
tional Guard. 

Salle II.— 

1791. H. Vernet: Review by Charles X. 

1792. Gerard: Coronation of Charles X. 

1793. Gros: A review in camp by Charles X. 

Salle IIL— 

1778. Gros : Louis XVIH. leaving the Tuileries. 

1787. Paul Delaroche : The taking of Trocadero. 

Salle IK— 
Copies of H. Vernet. 

Salle v.— 

1754. Rouget: Marriage of Napoleon L and Marie Louise. 

Salk VI.— 

1745. Goutherot: Napoleon \. wounded before Ratisbon. 
1749. Bellang^ : Battle of Wagram. 

Salle VII.— 

1731. Bergeret: Alexander presents the Calmucks to Napo- 

leon L 

1732. Taunay : Entry of the Imperial Guard to Paris. 
1735. Taunay : Passage of the Sierra-Guadarrama. 
1739. Hersent : Taking of Landshut. 

Salle VIIL— 

1716. M^nageot : Marriage of Prince Eugene de Beauharnais. 
1721. Ponce Camus : Napoleon L at the tomb of Frederick II. 
1724. Mulard : Napoleon receives the Persian Ambassador. 

Salle IX.— 

1696. Taunay : Descent from the Mont St. Bernard. 
1709. Taunay : The French army entering Munich. 

Salle X. — 

1684. Hennequin : The Battle of the Pyramids. 

Here we end our visit to the northern wing. The 
Salon d'ljercule is the coniniunication between this wing 



^6 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

and the central and principal part of the palace. This is 
the part of chief interest, and may be visited without the 
rest. Those who wish to do this will ascend one of the 
little staircases by the side of the chapel, from the vesti- 
bule, on the ground floor, and, on reaching the vestibule 
on the first floor, will turn left. 

The Salo7i d^Hercule is so named from the picture of 
the *^ Apotheosis of Hercules " on its ceiling, by Francois 
le Moyne^ who chose the subject in remote flattery of his 
patron, Hercule de Fleury, the Cardinal Minister. The 
" Passage of the Rhine " is a copy of Van der Meulen : 
Louis XIV. did not cross the river^, and is represented in 
the foreground. 

" Satirique flatteur, toi qui pris tant de peine 
Pour chanter que Louis n'a pas passe le Rhin." 

Voltaire i^from Prior). 

This salon was formed from the upper part of the old 
chapel, where the many marriages of Louis XIV.'s chil- 
dren took place, beginning with the love-marriage of his 
lovely little daughter (by Mme de la Valliere), Mile de 
Blois, with the Prince de Conti. 

" The dress of the Prince de Conti was priceless ; it was one 
mass of embroidery of very large diamonds that followed the 
compartments of black velvet on a straw-colored ground. It is 
said that the straw color was not a success, and that Mme de 
Langeron, who is the soul of all the decorations of the hotel of 
Cond6, was made ill by it. In fact, it was one of those things 
for which one cannot be consoled. The duke, the duchess, and 
Mme de Bourbon had three dresses adorned with different jewels 
for the three days. But I was forgetting the best ; that is, that the 
prince's sword was set with diamonds. 

" La famosa spada 
Al cui valore ogni vittoria h certa. 

The lining of the mantle of the Prince de Conti was black satin, 



SALLE DE DIANE 



47 



picked out with diamonds. The princess was romantically beau- 
tiful, apparelled and happy. 

" Qu'il est doux de trouver dans un amant qu'on aime 
Un 6poux que Ton doit aimer ! " 

Mnie de Sdvignd. 

Here the Due de Bourgogne, grandson of Louis XIV., 
was married to Marie Adelaide de Savoie, long the darling 
of the king and Court. Here Philippe d'OrMans, Due de 
Chartres (afterwards the Regent d'Orleans), was married 
to Frangoise Marie de Bourbon, daughter of Louis XIV. 
and Mme de Montespan ; and here her brother, Louis- 
Auguste, Due du Maine, was married to Louise-Benedicite 
de Bourbon Conde. Here, also, in 1685, Louis XIV. was 
himself married to Mme de Maintenon by Harly, Arch- 
bishop of Paris, and the P^re Lachaise, confessor of the 
king; Bontems, first valet de chambre, and the Marquis 
de Montchevreuil being the witnesses. 

The small room called the Salle d'' Abondance leads 
(left, after passing an anteroom) to the Salle des Etats- 
generaiix (with a statue of Bailly), whence the Petits Ap- 
partements de Louis XV. — noticed later — are sometimes 
reached. 

The door on the opposite side of the Salle d' Abon- 
dance from which we entered, leads to the Salle de Venus, 
marked by a group of the Three Graces. Next comes the 
Salle de Diane, with fine portraits of Marie Th^rese, attrib- 
uted to Beaubrun, and Louis XIV., by Rigaud, perhaps 
the most characteristic of the many portraits of the king. 

" He talked to perfection ; if the conversation was merry, he 
joined in with pleasantry ; if he condescended to tell a story, he 
did so with infinite grace and with such a noble and refined style as 
I have seen only in him." — Mme de Caylus, " Souvejtirs." 

"Never was there a man so naturally polished, nor of a 
politeness so measured and graduated, nor who distinguished 



48 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

better age, merit, and rank in his replies and his manner. His 
salutations, more or less marked, but always slight, had incom- 
parable grace and majesty. He was admirable in his different 
ways of receiving salutes at the head of the lines of the army and 
at reviews. In the case of women nothing could surpass it ; he 
never passed before any one in a bonnet without taking off his 
hat, even to chamber-maids, whom he knew to be such. He never, 
by any chance, said anything disobliging to any one. Before the 
world nothing was out of place or left to hazard, but, down to his 
slightest gesture, his walk, his bearing, and his whole counte- 
nance were all measured, decorous, noble, grand, majestic, and 
always very natural." — St, Simon, xii. 461. 

From the Salle de Diane we enter the Salon de Mars, 
which was used as a ball-room under Louis XIV., when it 
was decorated by some of the fine works of Paul Veronese 
and Titian, which are now in the Louvre. Over the 
chimney is the young Louis XIV. crowned by Victory. 
The great pictures represent the coronation of Louis XIV. 
and his interview with Philippe V. at the He des Faisans. 
Near the entrance is a portrait of Anne Genevieve de 
Bourbon, Duchesse de Longueville, the heroine of the 
Fronde. 

" Mme de Longueville had naturally a fiery spirit, but she 
had also finesse and tact. Her capacity was not assisted by her 
idleness. She had a languor in her manner which was more 
effective than the brilliancy of those even who were more beauti- 
ful. She had a languor, too, in her spirit, which had its charms 
because it awoke in bright and surprising flashes." — Cardinal de 
Retz, '' Mdmoires" 

" It was impossible to see her without loving her and wishing 
to please her. She had the air of making a public profession of 
b el esprit " — M7Jie de Motteville. 

" So crazy for popular favor as to go and lie in at the Hotel 
de Ville ; so disillusioned as to end in the penitence of the 
cloister a life which love and ambition had agitated in turn." — 
Vatout. 

Near the opposite door are (2054) the Due de Longue- 
ville and (2053) the Prince de Condd. Ze Salon de Mer- 



SALO.V D'APOLLON 40 

cure was the '* chambre de parade," which served for the 
*• jeu du roi " on the "jours d'appartement. '' It contains 
good portraits of Louis XIII. and Anne of Austria, as well 
as of Louis XIV. and Marie Therese, of whom the king 
said at her death (July 30, 1683), " Depuis vingt-trois ans, 
que nous sommes ensemble, voila le premier chagrin 
qu'elle m'ait donne." Here also are portraits of (2068) 
La Grande Mademoiselle, and of (2 069) Marguerite Louise 
d'Orleans, wife of Cosimo de' Medici, Grand Duke of 
Tuscany. It was in this room, turned into a chapelle 
ardente^ that the coffin of Louis XIV. lay in state for eight 
days. 

Le Salon d^ApoUon was • formerly the throne-room. 
The three rings which supported the canopy are still in 
their places. Here Louis XIV. received the submission 
of the Doge of Venice, who answered to the courtiers who 
asked him what he found most remarkable at Versailles : 
" C'est de m'y voir." 

Here also Louis XIV. held his last public audience, in 

1715- 

Amongst the pictures are — 

2078. Entry of Louis XIV. and Marie Therese into Douai, 

1667, 
3503. Henriette d'Angleterre (Madame), youngest daughter of 

Charles I., and Philippe de France, Due d'Orleans. 

"The princess of England, the king's sister-in-law, brought 
to the court the charms of refined and animated conversational 
powers, supported by the reading of good books, and by rare and 
delicate taste. She inspired fresh emulation, and introduced at 
the court a politeness and a grace of which the rest of Europe 
had scarcely an idea." — Voltaire. 

" Her regular beauty surprised all those who had seen in her, 
as a child, only ugliness and grace. If her figure had been per- 
fect, she would have been nature's master-piece. Her conversa- 
tion had a thousand charms ; her mind was enriched by the read- 



5° 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



ing of the best books ; her taste, although delicate and natural, 
was sure and fine ; her temper equable, charming, and such as she 
required to rule over the French. Although she touched the first 
throne of the world, it was clear, from her very perfections, that 
she had been brought up in the bosom of misfortune ; with all 
this she had the desire and ability to please." — De la Beaumelle, 
** M ^moires de Mme de Maintenon" • 

" Madame, whom whole ages could scarcely replace for 
beauty, youth and dancing." — Mme de S^vignL 

3504. Anne Marie Louise d'Orleans, Mile de Montpensier, 
as Bellona, and Gaston, Due d'Orleans. 

" I am tall, neither fat nor thin, with a handsome, easy figure. 
I have a good face ; the bust well made ; my arms and hands, not 
beautiful, but a beautiful skin. My leg is straight, and the foot 
well shaped ; my hair light, of a beautiful light brown ; my counte- 
nance is long, but well shaped ; the nose large and aquiline ; the 
mouth neither large nor small, but cut in an agreeable manner; 
the lips red ; the teeth not beautiful, but not horrible either ; my 
eyes are blue, neither large nor small, but bright, soft and proud, 
like my face. I have a lofty air without arrogance." — Portrait de 
Mile de Montpensier fait par elle-metne, Nov., 1657. 

As for Gaston d'Orleans — 

" He looked like a king's son, half starved." — Mme de Motte- 
ville. 

2085. Henriette d'Angleterre, Duchesse d'Orleans. 

2080. Henriette Marie de France, Queen of England. "La 

reine malheureuse." 
2089. Marie Louise d'Orleans, Queen of Spain. 

Le Salon de la Guerre is a magnificent room. The 
ceiling is adorned with pictures by Lebrun, celebrating the 
victories of Louis XIV. 

"The magnificent historical paintings which ornament the 
grand gallery of Versailles and the two saloons, had no small 
share in irritating all Europe against the king, and uniting it 
against his person rather than against his kingdom." — St. Simon, 
'' M^7noires," 1695. 

(Over the chimney-piece) Coysevox : A relief of Louis XIV. 
on horseback, trampling upon his enemies. 



GALERIE DES GLACE S ci 

La Grande Galerie des Glaces was built by Louis XIV. 
in the place of a terrace between two pavilions. The 
larger pictures are by Lebrun, the sculptured children on 
the cornice by Coysevox ; the inscriptions are attributed to 
Boileau and Racine. All the symbolical paintings exalt 
Louis XIV. as a god. 

"Nothing can be compared to him at reviews or fetes, and 
wherever an air of gallantry was required by the presence of ladies, 
he was always majestic, yet sometimes with gaiety ; before the 
world there was nothing out of place or left to hazard ; down to 
the least gesture, his walk, his bearing, his countenance, all were 
measured, decorous, noble, grand, majestic, and always natural, 
which the unique, incomparable advantages of his whole appear- 
ance greatly facilitated. In serious affairs, audiences of ambas- 
sadors, and ceremonies, no man was more imposing, and it was 
necessary to be accustomed to see him, if, in addressing him, one 
did not wish to break down. His replies on these occasions were 
alwajs short, to the point, seldom without some obliging or even 
flattering phrase, if the discourse merited it. The respect which 
his presence at any place inspired, imposed silence, and even a 
sort of dread." — St. Simon. 

This gallery, which has a noble view down the gardens 
of the palace, was the scene of the great fetes of the court. 

"The king was not only sensible of the continued presence of 
distinguished persons, but also of those of lower rank. He 
looked to right and left at his lever and his coucker, at his meals, as 
he passed through the rooms or the gardens of Versailles, where 
only members of the court had liberty to follow him. He saw and 
remarked every one ; no one escaped him, not even those who did 
not expect to be seen. He mentall}' noted the absence of those 
who were regular at court ; that of those who came more or less 
often, and the general or particular causes of their absence ; he 
combined these remarks, and never omitted the smallest oppor- 
tunity of acting with respect to them. It was a demerit to all dis- 
tinguished personages not to make the ordinary sojourn at the 
court ; and to others, to come there rarel)'-, while it was certain 
disgrace to come never, or almost never. When there was a 
question of anything for their benefit, 'I do not know him,' he 



2 2 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

would reply haughtily. Of those who rarely presented them- 
selves, he said, * He is a man whom I never see.' These resolu- 
tions were irrevocable," — St. Simon, '' Mdmoires." 

Here also the memoirs of the time bring many strange 
scenes before us from the family life of the royal family, as 
on the announcement of the (compulsory) marriage of the 
Due de Chartres (afterwards the Regent d'Orleans) with a 
natural daughter of Louis XIV. by Mme de Montespan. 

** Madame was walking in the galler)'- with Chateauthiers, her 
favorite, and worthy to be so ; she walked with great strides, 
handkerchief in hand, weeping without restraint, talking pretty 
loud, gesticulating, and representing admirably Ceres after the 
rape of Proserpine, furiously seeking for her daughter, and de- 
manding her from Jupiter. Out of respect, all left her the field, 
and only passed to enter the apartment. Monseigneur and Mon- 
sieur had returned to lansquenet. The former appeared to me as 
usual. Never was anything so covered with shame as the face of 
Monsieur, nor so disconcerted as his whole figure ; this condition 
lasted for more than a month. M., his son, seemed in despair, 
and his intended in extreme embarrassment and sadness. Young 
as she was, marvellous as was the marriage, she saw and felt the 
whole scene, and apprehended all the consequences. Next day 
all the court visited Monsieur, Madame, and the Duke de Char- 
tres without saying a word ; they were content to bow, and all 
passed in perfect silence. They then went to attend as usual the 
rising of the council, in the gallery, through which the king went 
to mass. Madame went there. M., her son, approached, as he 
did every day, to kiss her hand. Madame at that instant gave 
him a sounding buffet, that was heard several yards off, and 
which, given in the presence of all the court, covered the poor 
prince with confusion, and filled the countless spectators, of whom 
I was one, with prodigious astonishment." — St. Simon, ''M/- 
moires," 1692. 

"The Parisian, on Whitsunday, runs to Versailles to see the 
princes, the procession of blue ribbons, then the park, and then 
the menagerie. The grand apartments are opened to him ; the 
smaller ones, which are richer and more curious, are closed. At 
noon he presents himself in the gallery to see the king going to 
mass, and the queen, and Monsieur and Madame, and Monseig- 
neur the Comte d'Artois, and Madame the Comtesse d'Artois. 



LA SALLE DU CONSElL 



S3 



Then they say to each other : ' Have you seen the king ? — Yes ; he 
laughed. — True, he laughed. — He seemed happy. — Good reason why. ' " 
— Tableau de Pat is, 1782. 

It was in this gallery that King William of Prussia 
caused himself to be proclaimed German Emperor in Jan- 
uary, 187 1. 

From the Grande Galerie des Glaces, before advancing 
to the other galleries of the Musee, we should turn by first 
door on the left to La Salle du Conseil, which was divided 
under Louis XIV., the further part being the Cabinet 
des Perruques^ where the king changed his wig several 
times a day. In the nearer part, called Cabinet die Roi, 
Louis XIV. transacted business with his ministers. In 
this room is preserved the clock of Louis XIV., which was 
stopped at the moment of his death, and has never been 
set in motion since. 

The room was arranged as it is now under Louis XV., 
under whom Mme du Barry loved to display here her irre- 
pressible audacity. 

" She was a Roxalana, gay and familiar, without respect for 
the dignity of the sovereign. Mme du Barry carried forgetful- 
ness of the proprieties so far as to wish one day to be present at 
the council of state ; the king was weak enough to consent ; she 
remained there ridiculously perched on the arm of his chair, and 
played all the little childish monkey tricks which could please 
old sultans. 

" On another occasion she pulled out of the king's hands a 
packet of letters still sealed up. . . . The king tried to seize it ; 
she resisted ; made him chase her two or three times around the 
table in the middle of the council-room, and then, as she passed 
the fire-place, flung them in, where they were burned. The king 
was furious ; he seized his audacious mistress by the arms and 
turned her out without speaking. Mme du Barry fancied herself 
disgraced ; she went to her rooms, and remained alone for two 
hours, a prey to the greatest disquiet. The king came to look 
for her ; the countess, in tears, flung herself at his feet, and he 
pardoned her." — Mtne Campan, '' Me'moires." 



^4 i)AVS NEAR PARIS 

It was in the embrasure of the first window of this 
same room that the panic-stricken M. de Breze' announced 
to Louis XVI. the terrible answer of Mirabeau, when the 
deputies were summoned to separate : " Nous sommes ici 
par la volonte du peuple, et nous n'en sortirons que par la 
force des baionnettes." 



From the Salle du Conseil we may turn aside to visit 
the very interesting historic rooms called Les Petits Ap- 
partements de Louis XV. (sometimes entered opposite the 
Salle des Etats-generaux, when the order is reversed), 
comprising the — 

Chambre a coucher de Louis XV. This was the billiard- 
room of Louis XIV". It was here that the game-loving 
king accorded his friendship over the billiard-table to 
Chamillart, who rose to be minister, 

*' The king, who amused himself often with billiards, the 
taste for which lasted a long time, used, nearly every evening, to 
make parties with M. de Vendome and M. le Grand, and some- 
times the Marshal de Villeroy. or the Duke de Grammont. They 
heard that Chamillart was a good player, and wished to try him 
in Paris. They were so pleased that they spoke of him to the 
king, and praised him so, that he ordered M. le Grand to bring 
him back the first time he went to Paris. He came, and the king 
found that they had not said too much. M. de Vendome and M. 
le Grand extended more friendship and protection to him than 
the other two did, with the result that he was admitted once for 
all into the king's party, where he was the strongest player of all. 
He behaved so modestly that he pleased the king and the cour- 
tiers by whom he was protected in place of being laughed at, as 
happens to an unknown new-comer from the town." — St. Simon, 
1699. 

This was the future minister for whom was composed 
the epitaph — 



APPARTEMENTS DE LOUIS XV. 55 

" Ci-git le fameux Chamillard, 
De son roi le protonotaire, 
Qui fut un heros au billard, 
Un zero dans le ministere." 

It was in this room that an absurd conflict of senti- 
mentality and common-sense took place after the attempt 
of Damiens to murder the king, when Louis XV. took to 
his bed, received the last sacraments, and gave his last 
directions as a dying man. 

" M. de Landsmath, an equerry and master of the hounds, 
was an old soldier who had given many proofs of courage ; noth- 
ing could reduce his excessive frankness to the habits and con- 
venances of the court. The king was very fond of him. M. de 
Landsmath had a thundering voice. He entered the room of 
Louis XV., the day of the horrible attempt by Damiens, a few 
minutes after, and found the Dauphine and the king's daughters 
beside the king ; these princesses, dissolved in tears, surrounded 
his Majesty's bed. 'Turn out these weepers, Sire,' said the old 
equerry, 'I wish to speak with you alone.' The king signed to 
the princesses to retire. 'Come,' said Landsmath, 'your wound 
is nothing ; you had plenty of under-clothing and vests.' Then 
displaying his breast, ' See,' he said, pointing to four or five large 
scars, ' these are worth reckoning ; it is thirty years since I re- 
ceived these wounds. Come, cough as hard as you can.' The 
king coughed. ' It is nothing,' said Landsmath ; 'laugh at it ; in 
four days we will hunt a stag.' ' But if the blade were poisoned?' 
said the king. 'An old story, all that,' he replied ; 'if the thing 
were possible, your under-clothing and vests would have cleaned 
the blade from any dangerous drugs.' The king was calmed and 
passed a very good night." — Mme Campan. 

But it was also in this room that Louis XV. really 
died, May 10, 1774, of malignant small-pox, which fifty per- 
sons caught from merely crossing the neighboring gal- 
lery : though his three daughters nursed him with fearless 
devotion. 

" The king was at the last extremity ; besides the small-pox, he 
had spotted fever, and there was danger in entering the room. M. 
de Latori^re died after having opened the door to see him for two 



56 i)A YS N'EAR PARIS 

minutes. The physicians themselves took all sorts of precaution 
to preserve themselves from the contagion of the terrible disease, 
and Mesdames, who had never had the small-pox, who were no 
longer young and naturally of feeble health, were all three in his 
chamber, seated near his bed, and beneath the curtains ; they 
passed day and night there. Every one made strong remon- 
strances to them on the subject, and told them that it was more 
than risking their lives, it was sacrificing them. Nothing could 
deter them from fulfilling this pious duty." — Souvenirs de Fdicie. 

The pictures include — 

The Coronation of Louis XV. ; Louis XV. as a child, by 
Rigaud ; and the six daughters of Louis XV., by N'attier. 

The Salon des Fendules was the council-chamber of 
Louis XV. On the floor is a meridian line said to have 
been traced by Louis XVL From a little window in this 
room, Louis XV., unseen himself, was fond of watching 
the courtyard and its arrivals. Hence also, as the fickle 
king saw the funeral train of his once beloved Mme de 
Pompadour leaving Versailles, he exclaimed, " La Mar- 
quise a mauvais temps pour son voyage ! " 

La Salle d^ Or et d"* Argent contained a collection of 
precious stones under Louis XV. The valuables in this 
room were concealed at the Revolution behind a portrait 
of Mme de Maintenon. La Salle des Buffets was also the 
Cabinet de Travail de Louis XV. et XVI. Adjoining it 
is shown the oratory of Louis XIV. Le Cabinet des 
Medailles was previously part of a little gallery : it be- 
longed to the apartment of Mme de Montespan. 

La Bibliothsque de Louis XVL. Here the iron safe of 
Louis XVL, and the //z/;'^r<?/<^^which it contained, are said 
to have been found on the denunciation of Gamain. An 
autograph report of Mansart on some of his new buildings, 
with the notes of Louis XIV. on the margin, is preserved 
here. La Salle des Porcelaines, which has a fine tapestry 



LA SALLE DES PORCELAINES 5^ 

portrait of Louis XV., was the apartment of the king's 
favorite daughter, Madame Adelaide. 

" Louis XV. came down every morning, by a secret stair, to 
the rooms of Madame Adelaide. Often he brought and took 
with him some coffee which he had made himself. Madame 
Adelaide rang the bell to give notice to Madame Victoire of the 
king's visit ; Madame Victoire, as she rose to go to her sister, 
rang for Madame Sophie, who, in turn, rang for Madame Louise. 
The apartments of the princesses were very large. Madame 
Louise lived in the one farthest away. This youngest daughter 
of the king was deformed and small ; to join the daily gathering, 
the poor princess crossed, running with all her might, a great 
number of rooms, and, in spite of her hurry, had often only time 
to embrace her father, who was going to hunt." — Mme Cavipan. 

The Salle des Porcelaines leads to the Escalier des 
Ambassadeurs. 

By a little window, lighted from an inner court, we 
reach the Salle a Manger, whence we enter the Cabinet des 
Chasses, looking upon the little court called Cour des Cerfs, 
which is surrounded by a balcony whither the royal family 
used to come to inspect the spoils of the chase. The iron 
grille on the left of the balcony communicated with the 
alcove of the chamber of Louis XV., which Mme du 
Barry entered by this means. The gilt door on the right 
of the entrance communicates with a staircase which led 
up to the apartments of Madame du Barry — small rooms 
lighted by round-headed windows. On the second story 
of the Cour des Cerfs, Louis XV. had some small private 
rooms, which Louis XVI. afterwards used as a workshop, 
where he amused himself as a locksmith, and where, with 
the help of the workman Gamain, he constructed, in the 
beginning of 1792, his famous armoire de fer. Beyond 
this is the Salle des Etats-gdneraux (see p. 47). 



5^ DA y^ NEAR PARIS 

From the Salle du Conseil we enter La Chambre ct cou- 
cher de Louis XLV. 

The original bed and furniture of this room gave twelve 
years' work to Simon Delobel, tapissier, valet de chambre 
du roi. The present bed was made under Louis Philippe. 
The counterpane, originally adorned with the " Triumph 
of Venus," was exchanged in the latter years of Louis 
XIV. for the " Sacrifice of Abraham " and the " Sacrifice 
of Iphigenia," the work of the young ladies of St. Cyr. 
This quilt, found in two parts, in Germany and Italy, was 
recovered by Louis Philippe. No one was allowed inside 
the balustrade in which the bed is placed — la riielle — with- 
out being especially summoned by the king. The pictures 
of St. John by Raffaelle, and David by Domenichino, 
which are now in the Louvre, were originally on either side 
of the bed. The portrait of Anne of Austria, mother of 
Louis XIV., hung here in the king's time. The other 
family portraits have been brought hither since. 

" At eight o'clock the first valet de chambre on duty, who 
had slept in the king's room, and had dressed, awoke him. The 
first physician, the first surgeon, and his nurse, as long as she 
lived, entered at the same time. She kissed him, the others 
rubbed him, and often changed his shirt. At a quarter past, the 
grand chamberlain was summoned, and in his absence the first 
gentleman of the chamber for the year, and with him those who 
had the grandes entries. One of them opened the curtain which 
was closed, and presented some holy water from the basin at the 
bed-head. These gentlemen were there only for a moment, and 
this was the time to speak to the king if they had anything to 
say to him or ask of him, and then the others departed. When 
they had nothing special to say, they only remained a few min- 
utes. The one who had opened the curtains and presented the 
holy water, presented the book of the office of the Holy Ghost, 
and then both passed into the council chamber. The oflSce was 
quickly said ; the king called and they returned. The same 
officer gave him his dressing-gown, and then those who had the 
second entries or business entered ; a few moments afterwards, 



CHAM B RE DE LOUIS XIV. 



S9 



the throng waiting in the chamber entered, first the most dis- 
tinguished, then everybody, and they found the king pulling on 
his shoes, for he did nearly everything himself with address and- 
grace. He could be seen shaving every other day, and he wore 
a little short wig, without ever, at any time, even in bed when he 
took medicine, appearing otherwise in public. He often talked 
of hunting, and sometimes a few words to some one. There 
was no toilet table within his reach ; a mirror was held before him. 
" When he was dressed, he said his prayers by the side of his 
bed, while all the clergy present knelt, the cardinals without 
hassocks ; all the laymen remained standing, and the captain of 
the guard came to the balustrade during the prayer, after which 
the king went to his cabinet." — St. Simon. 

No one who considers this oppressive etiquette will 
wonder that, on hearing of it, Frederick the Great said 
that, if he was king of France, he would name another 
king to go through all that in his place. 
The king used to dine in his chamber. 

" The dinner was always ati petit convert, that is, alone in his 
chamber, at a square table opposite the middle window. It was 
more or less abundant, for he ordered in the morning either petit 
convert or ti'es petit convert. The latter, however, had always 
plenty of dishes and three courses without desert When the 
table had been brought in, the chief courtiers entered, then all 
who were known, and the first gentleman of the chamber went to 
give notice to the king. He served him if the grand chamber- 
lain was not there. 

" I have seen, but very rarely, Monseigneur and his sons at 
the petit convert, standing, without the king ever offering them a 
seat. I have constantly seen the princes of the blood and the 
cardinals in line. I have seen pretty often Monsieur, either com- 
ing from Saint Cloud to see the king or leaving the council, the 
only one who entered. He handed the napkin, and remained 
standing. A little while afterwards the king, seeing he was not 
going away, asked him if he would not be seated ; he bowed, and 
the king ordered a seat to be brought. A tabonret, or stool, was 
placed behind him. A few moments aftervvards the king would 
say, ' My brother, be seated,' He bowed, and sat down till the 
end of dinner, when he presented the napkin. At other times 
when he came from Saint Cloud, the king, as he entered, asked 



6o J) A YS i^'eAr Paris 

if he would not dine. If he refused, he departed at once, with- 
out any reference being made to a seat ; if he accepted, the 
king ordered a cover for him. The table was square ; he placed 
himself at one end, his back towards the cabinet. Then the 
grand chamberlain, if he served, or the first gentleman of the 
chamber, gave and removed the glasses and plates for Monsieur, 
just as he did for the king, but Monsieur received his service 
with marked politeness. When he was at the king's dinner he 
maintained and enlivened the conversation. Then, although at 
table, he handed the king his napkin both when he sat down and 
when he left, and restored it to the grand chamberlain. The 
king ordinarily spoke little at dinner, only a few words here and 
there, unless there were some of those nobles with whom he was 
familiar, and then he spoke a little more. So was it at his lev6e 
also." — St. Simon, 1 71 5. 

"The king, when he left the table, remained for less than a 
quarter of an hour, his back against the balustrade of the cham- 
ber. He found there a circle of all the ladies who had been at 
his supper, and who came there to wait a little before he left the 
table, except the ladies who had been seated, who only left the 
table after him, and who, as belonging to the suites of the princes 
and princesses that had supped with him, came one by one to 
make their reverences, and formed a circle standing where the 
other ladies had left a wide space for them ; the men stood be- 
hind. The king amused himself by noticing the dresses, faces, 
and graceful bows, said a few words to the princes and princesses 
who had supped with him, and who formed a circle near him on 
two sides ; then bowed to the ladies right and left, repeating this 
""once or twice as he went out, with incomparable grace and maj- 
esty. He spoke sometimes, but rarely, as he passed and entered 
into his cabinet, where he stopped to give orders, and then went 
to the second cabinet." — St. Simoji,' i'] 10. 

It was this room that witnessed the closing scenes of 
Louis XIV. 's life:— 

"He said to Mme de Maintenon that he had always heard 
that it was difficult to make up one's mind to die ; but that he, 
now on the verge of this moment so dreaded by mankind, did 
not find the resolution was so difficult to take. She replied it 
was very difficult when one was attached to the creature, had 
hatred in the heart, or reparations to make. ' Ah ! ' rejoined the 
king, ' as for reparations, I, as a private person, owe none to any- 



CHAMBRE DE LOUIS XIV. 6 1 

body ; but for those I owe to the kingdom, I trust in God's mercy,' 
The following night was much disturbed. He was seen joining 
his hands at every moment, and was heard saying the prayers he 
was accustomed to make in health, and to beat his breast at the 
Conjiteor. 

"On Wednesday, August 28, he paid Mme de Maintenon a 
compliment which did not please her, and to which she did not 
reply a word. He said to her that what consoled him in quitting 
her was the hope that at her age they would soon be reunited. 
At seven in the morning he summoned Father de Tellier, and as 
he spoke to him of God, he saw, in the mirror, two pages of his 
chamber seated at the foot of his bed and weeping. He said to 
them, 'Why do you weep? Did you believe that I was immor- 
tal ? For my part, I never thought so, and you ought to prepare 
yourselves to lose me at my age.' 

"On Saturday, August 31, about seven in the evening, he 
was so ill that the prayers for the dying were said. The prepara- 
tions recalled him to himself ; he repeated the prayers in such a 
strong voice that it could be heard above that of a great number 
of clergy, and of. all that had entered. At the end of the prayers 
he recognized the Cardinal de Rohan, and said, ' These are the 
last mercies of the Church.' He was the last man to whom he 
spoke. He repeated several times, ^ Nunc et in hora mortis ,^ zxiA 
then, * O my God ! come to my aid ; hasten to help me.' These 
were his last words. He was all night with consciousness, and 
in a long agony, which ended on Sunday, September i, 1715, at 
a quarter past eight in the morning, three days before the com- 
pletion of his seventy-seventh year, in the sixty-second year of 
his reign. 

" From time to time, while he was at liberty, and in the last 
days when he had banished all business and all other cares, he 
was solely occupied with God, his salvation, his own nothingness, 
so that occasionally there escaped him the words, 'When I was 
king.' Absorbed in advance in the great future to which he saw 
himself so near, detached from the world without regret, humble 
without meanness, with ^ contempt for all that was no longer for 
him, with a tranquillity and possession of soul that consoled the 
valets whom he saw weeping, he formed a most touching spec- 
tacle ; and what rendered him admirable was that he Avas entirely 
and always the same ; a feeling of his sins without the least dread, 
confidence, shall I say entire? in God, without doubt or disquiet, 
but based on the mercy and blood of Jesus Christ, equal resigna- 



62 BA YS NEAR PARIS 

tion as to his personal condition, and as to how long he would 
last, and regretting that he did not suffer. Who would not admire 
a death-bed so noble and at the same time so Christian ? Who, 
however, will not shudder at it?" — St. Simon. 

When a king of France died the palace clock was 
stopped at the minute of his death, to remain motionless 
till the death of the next sovereign. The first gentleman 
standing in the balcony above the Cour de Marbre, cried 
three times : " Le roi est mort ! " then, breaking his wand 
of office, and taking a fresh one : " Vive le roi ! " 

"Louis XIV. was regretted by his private valets, few other 
people, and the chiefs of the business of the Constitution. His 
successor was not of age. Madame felt for him only fear and 
courtesy. Mme the Duchess de Berry did not love him and hoped 
to reign. M. the Duke of Orleans could not be expected to weep 
for him, and those who were not did not make it their business. 
Mme de Maintenon was weary of the king after the death of the 
Dauphiness ; she did not know what to do or how to amuse him ; 
her restraint was tripled because he was much oftener at her apart- 
ment, or in parties with her. She had come to the end of her 
wishes ; so, in spite of her loss in losing the king, she felt herself 
freed, and was capable of no other feeling. 

' The court was composed of two classes : some who hoped 
to make a figure, and to be introduced, were delighted to see the 
end of a reign in which there was nothing for them but waiting ; 
the others, fatigued by a heavy yoke always crushing, that of the 
ministers being more so than that of the king, were charmed to 
find themselves in liberty ; all, in fact, were delivered from a con- 
tinual weariness and longing for novelty. 

"Paris, tired of a dependence that had held down everything, 
breathed in the hope of some liberty, and in the joy of seeing the 
end of the authority of so many persons who abused it. The 
provinces, in their despair at their ruin and annihilation, breathed 
and quivered with joy ; the parliaments and all judicial bodies, 
suppressed by edicts and the removal of cases, flattered them- 
selves, the former that they would make a figure, the latter that 
they would be enfranchised. The people, ruined, crushed, des- 
perate, thanked God with scandalous fervor for a deliverance 
of which the most ardent no longer doubted." — St. Simon, 
'' Mdmoires" 1715. 



CHAMBRE BE LOUIS XIV. ^^ 

** Louis XIV. died without having had the pain of seeing 
France descend from the rank to which he had raised it. He de- 
scended to the tomb tranquil but sad. The glory of his reign had 
been won ; he outlived all those whom he had associated there- 
with as if to seal it. But he ought to have cast an unquiet eye on 
the future of the reign which was to begin at his death." — Balzac, 
" Six Rois de France" 

La Salle de V CEil de BcEuf (opening from the bedroom) 

is so called from its oval skylight. This was the king's 

antechamber;, in which the courtiers awaited ^'le grand 

lever du roi." In a strange picture by Nocret^ Louis XIV. 

is represented as Apollo, and all the rest of the royal 

family of the earlier part of his reign — Marie The'rese, La 

Grande Mademoiselle, Madame (Henriette), Monsieur, 

Anne of Austria, Henrietta Maria (of England), and the 

four daughters of Monsieur — as gods and goddesses. 

Mercier describes the principal occupant of this chamber 

in the XVIII. c. :— 

"In it lives a broad-shouldered, colossal Suisse, a big bird in 
a cage. He eats, drinks, sleeps in that anteroom, and never 
leaves it ; the rest of the palace is strange to him. A simple 
screen separates his bed and his table from the potentates of this 
world. Twelve sonorous words adorn his memory, and constitue 
his task : ' Pass on, gentlemen, pass on ! — Gentlemen, the king ! — 
Retire ! — No admission, Monseigneur ! " And Monseigneur goes 
without a word. Every one salutes him, no one contradicts him ; 
his voice chases from the gallery a flock of counts, marquises and 
dukes, who flee before his words. He turns back princes and 
princesses, and only speaks to them in monosyllables. No in- 
ferior dignity imposes on him ; he opens, for the master, the glass 
door, and shuts it ; all the rest of the world is nothing in his eyes. 
When his voice echoes the squads of courtiers diminish and 
scatter ; all fix their looks on that large hand that holds the door- 
knob ; motionless or in action it has a surprising effect on all be- 
holders. His vails amount to five hundred louis d'or, for no one 
dare offer to that hand a metal as vile as silver." — Tableaji de 
Paris. 

The guardian now stationed in the Salle de I'CEil de 



64 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



Boeuf will admit visitors (50 c.) to Les Petits Appartements 
de Marie-Antoinette^ previously used by Marie Leczinska. 
These little rooms are entered by the corridor by which 
the unfortunate Marie Antoinette escaped, October 6, 
1789. The Bibliotheque Rouge was the oratory of Marie 
Therese, and the painting room of Marie Leczinska. The 
Bibliotheque Bleue leads to the Bath-room of Marie Lec- 
zinska. The Salo7i de la Reine has panelling of the time 
of Marie Antoinette. 

It was in her old age, as superintendent of the imperial 
college of Ecouen, that Mme Campan wrote : — 

" I have lived long ; fortune placed in my power to see and 
judge of the celebrated women of different periods. I was inti- 
mate with young people whose graces and amiability will be 
known long after them. I never, in any rank, or at any age, 
found a woman of so fascinating a nature as Marie Antoinette ; 
never one in whom the dazzling splendor of the crown left the 
heart so tender, or who, in the heaviest misfortunes, showed her- 
self so compassionate for the misfortunes of others ; I have 
never seen one so heroic in danger, so eloquent when the occa- 
sion demanded, or so frankly gay in prosperity." 

V Antichambre du Roi (behind the CEil de Boeuf) was 
used for dinners when there was grand convert^ to which 
oxAy flls et petits fils de France were admitted. 

No. 2149. The Institution of the Military Order of St. Louis 
is very interesting as showing Louis XVL in his 
bedchamber. In 1836 it served as a guide for the 
restoration of that room. 

La Salle des Gardes, at the top of the marble staircase, 
was used for the household guard of the king. 

No. 2130 is a curious picture representing the Carrousel or 
Tournament given by Louis XIV. before the Tuile- 
ries, June 16, 1662. 

Returning into the Grande Galerie des Glaces, on the 
left, at the bottom of this gallery we enter the Salon de la 



CHAMBKE DE LA REINE 



6S 



Paix, a pendant to the Salon de la Guerre at. the other end 
of the gallery. 

Le Salon de la Paix has a picture over the chimney- 
piece by Le Moyne, representing Louis XV. as a god giving 
peace to Europe. The frescoes of this room are of the 
kind so offensive to foreign powers : Holland on its knees 
receiving upon its buckler the arrows which Love brings it 
with olive branches — symbolical of the provinces which 
the king had conquered from it, and the peace which he 
had given it, &c. On the ceiling is France drawn in a 
triumphal car by turtledoves, harnessed by Love — symbol- 
ical of the marriages of the Dauphin with a Bavarian 
princess, and of Mademoiselle with the King of Spain. 
This room was used as a Salle de ^eu, and immense sums 
were lost here. Mme de Montespan lost 400,000 pistoles 
here in one night at biribi. 

It was in this room that the king and Mme de Main- 
tenon remained (17 12) during the last agonizing hours 
of the Duchesse de Bourgogne, who had been the light of 
their existence ; that they received the opinions of the 
seven physicians in office ; and that the Queen of Eng- 
land (hurrying from St. Germain) vainly tried to comfort 
them in the greatest sorrow of their lives — " lis etaient I'un 
et I'autre dans la plus amere douleur." 

La Chambre de la Reine was that of Marie Therese, 
wife of Louis XIV., who died there. It was afterwards 
inhabited by his beloved granddaughter-in-law, the 
Duchesse de Bourgogne. The Duchesse d'Orleans de- 
scribes the scene in this room after the news arrived of 
the sudden death of the Dauphin (son of Louis XIV.) at 
Meudon, when he was supposed to be recovering from the 
small-pox. 

"16 April, 1711, — I ran to the Duchess de Bourgogne's 



66 BAYS NEAR PARIS 

apartments, where I saw a benumbing spectacle ; the Duke and 
Duchess de Bourgogne were utterly upset, pale as death and 
speechless. The Duke and Duchess de Berry were lying on the 
floor, their elbows on a lounge, crying so that you could hear 
them three rooms off; my son and Mme d'Orleans wept in silence, 
and did their utmost to calm the Duke and Duchess de Berry. 
All the ladies were on the floor weeping around the Duchess de 
Bourgogne. I accompanied the Duke and Duchess de Berry to 
their rooms ; they went to bed, but continued to cry no less." — 
Correspondance de Madame. 

In this room the Duchesse de Bourgogne died. 

"Many amiable qualities attached all hearts, while her per- 
sonal relations to her husband, to the king and Mme de Main- 
tenon, attracted the homage of the ambitious. She had labored to 
acquire this position from the first moments of her arrival, and 
never ceased, during life, to continue so useful a toil, of which 
she reaped the fruits without interruption. Gentle, timid, but 
adroit, fearing to give the slightest pain to anybody, and though 
all lightness and vivacit)^, very capable of far reaching views ; 
constraint, even to annoyance, cost her nothing, though she felt 
all its weight ; complacency was natural to her, flowed from her, 
and was exhibited to every member of her court. 

"She wished to please even the most useless and the most 
ordinary persons, yet without seeming to make an effort to do so. 
You were tempted to believe her wholly and solely devoted to 
those with whom she found herself. Her gaiety — young, active 
and quick — animated all, and her nymph-like lightness carried 
her everj^where like a whirlwind which fills several places at 
once and gives them movement and life. She was the ornament 
of all diversions, the life and soul of all pleasure, and at balls 
ravished everybody by the justness and perfection of her dancing. 
She spared nothing, not even her health, to gain Mme de Main- 
tenon, and through her the king. 

"In public serious, respectful to the king, with a timid 
decorum to Mme de Maintenon, whom she never addressed 
except as my aunt, thus prettily confounding affection and rank. 
In private, prattling, skipping, flying around them, now perched 
upon the sides of their arm-chairs, now playing on their knees, 
she clasped them round the neck, embraced them, kissed them, 
caressed them, rumpled them, tickled them under the chin, tor- 
mented them, rummaged their tables, their papers, their letters, 



CHAM B RE DE LA REINE 67 

broke the seals and read the contents in spite of opposition, if 
she saw it was likely to be taken in good part. 

" The king could not do without her. Everything went wrong 
when the parties of pleasure, which his love and consideration 
for her insisted on being frequently formed to divert her, kept 
her from being near him. Even at his public supper-table, if 
she were away, an additional cloud of silence and seriousness 
settled around him. 

"With her were eclipsed, joy, pleasure, even amusement and 
every kind of grace ; darkness covered the face of the Court, 
she animated it throughout ; she filled it all at once, she occupied 
every place and penetrated everywhere. If the Court survived her, 
it was only languishing. No princess was so regretted, as none 
was more worthy of being so ; the regret could not pass away, 
and a secret bitterness remained, with a terrible void that could 
not be filled."— ^A Simon. 

Louis XV. and Philippe V. of Spain were both born in 
this room. Here Marie Leczinska died, and here also 
Marie Antoinette gave birth to Marie Therese, afterwards 
Duchesse d'Angouleme, Madame Royale. 

"The royal family, the princes of the blood, and the high 
officers passed the night in the rooms adjoining the chamber of 
the queen. Madame, the king's daughter, came into the world 
before noon of the 19th of December, 1778, The custom of allow- 
ing the indiscriminate entry of all who presented themselves at 
the moment of the accouchement of queens was observed with such 
exaggeration, that at the moment when the accoucheur Vermond 
said aloud, ' The queen is giving birth,' the floods of curious peo- 
ple who rushed into the chamber were so numerous, and so tumult- 
uous, that the movement almost killed the queen. The king had 
taken, during the night, the precaution to fasten with cords the 
immense screens of tapestry that surrounded her Majesty's bed ; 
without this, they would certainly have been thrown down on her. 
It was not possible to stir in the room ; it was filled with a crowd 
so mixed, that one could fancy one's self in a public place. Two 
Savoyards climbed on the furniture to get a better view of the 
queen, who was opposite the fireplace, on a bed prepared for her 
accouchement. This noise, the sex of the child, which had been 
communicated to the queen by a sign agreed upon, they say, with 
the Princess de Lamballe, or a mistake of the accoucheur, for a 



68 DA YS NEAR PARIS 

moment suppressed the natural sequel of child-birth. The blood 
flew to her head, her mouth was twisted, the accoucheur cried, 
'Air! Hot water; she must be bled in the foot!' The win- 
dows had been caulked ; the king opened them with a strength 
which nothing but his love for the queen could have given him ; 
these windows were very high, and pasted with strips of paper 
all their length. The basin of hot water not coming quick 
enough, the accoucheur told the first surgeon to lance without it. 
He did so ; the blood flowed freel}', and the queen opened her 
eyes. The joy that came so rapidly after the most lively fear could 
scarce be restrained. The Princess de Lamballe was carried 
through the crowd in a state of unconsciousness. The valets de 
chambre and the ushers took by the collar those whose indiscreet 
curiosity did not urge them to clear the room. This cruel custom 
was forever abolished. The princes of the family, the princes of 
the blood, the chancellor, and the ministers were sufficient to 
attest the legitimacy of an hereditar}' prince. The queen was re- 
called from the gates of death." — Mme Canipan. 

Here it was that Marie Antoinette, accustomed to the 
simplicity and freedom of the Austrian Court, suffered so 
cruelly from the etiquette of Versailles. 

"The dressing of the princess was a masterpiece of etiquette ; 
everything was by rule. The lady of honor, and the lady of the 
robes, both of them, if they were present together, assisted by the 
first bed-chamber woman and two maids in ordinary, discharged 
the principal service. But there were distinctions among them. 
The lady of the robes put on the petticoat and presented the dress. 
The lady of honor poured out water for washing the hands, and 
put on the chemise. When a princess of the royal family was at 
the dressing, the lady of honor yielded to her this function, but 
she did not yield it directly to princesses of the blood ; in this 
case she handed the chemise to the first bed-chamber woman, who 
presented it to the princess of the blood. Each of these ladies 
observed scrupulously this custom, each clinging to h.er rights. 
One winter day, it happened that the queen, almost entirely un- 
dressed, was just about to put on her chemise ; I held it unfolded ; 
the lady of honor came in, removed her gloves, and took the 
chemise. Some one scratched at the door ; it was opened ; it was 
the Duchess of Orleans ; her gloves were removed, she advanced 
to take the chemise, but the lady of honor must not give it to her ; 



CHAMBRE DE LA REINE (^ 

she gave it to me and I handed it to the princess. Another 
scratch at the door ; it is Madame, Countess of Provence ; the 
Duchess of Orleans offered her the chemise. The queen was hold- 
ing her arms crossed over her breast, and seemed to be cold. 
Madame saw her distressed attitude, confined herself to laying 
down her handkerchief, kept her gloves on, and in putting on the 
chemise, brought the queen's hair down. The queen began 
to laugh to hide her impatience, after having muttered between 
her teeth several times, ' It is odious ! What a nuisance ! ' " — 
Mtne Campan. 

The pictures comprise : — 

2092. Leb7-un : Marriage of Louis XIV. 

2091. Ant. Dieu: Birth of the Due de Bourgogne, 

2095. Ant. Dieu: Marriage of the Due de Bourgogne and 

Marie Adelaide de Savoie. 

These pictures are very interesting as showing the 
different members of the royal family, of whom we have 
heard so much, at three different times. The portraits 
are — 

2097. Mme Lebrun : Marie-Antoinette. 

"Qui donnait tant d'eclat au trone des Bourbons, 
Tant de charme au pouvoir, tant de grace a ses dons." 

De/ille. 

"Tall, admirably made, the best walker in France, carr}ang 
her head high on a beautiful Grecian neck." — Menioires de Mme 
Vig^e-Lebrun, i. 64. 

2096. Nattier: Marie-Leczinska. 

This picture of Marie Leczinska partly conceals the 
door of the passage by which Marie Antoinette escaped 
from her bed-chamber on the terrible night of October 6, 
1789. 

" The queen went to bed at two o'clock in the morning ; she 
fell asleep, fatigued by a painful day. She ordered her two 
women to go to bed, in the belief that there was nothing to fear, 
at least, that night. But the unfortunate princess owed her life 



76 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



to the feeling of attachment that prevented them from obeying 
her. 

" On leaving the queen's apartment, these ladies called their 
maids, and all four sat together near the door of her Majesty's 
bedroom. About half past four o'clock, they heard horrible cries 
and some gun-shots ; one of them went in to awake the queen 
and make her get out of bed ; my sister flew to the spot where 
the noise seemed to be ; she opened the door of the ante-chamber 
leading to the great guard-room, and saw one of the body-guards, 
holding his musket across the door, who was being attacked by 
a crowd that were striking him ; his face was already covered 
with blood ; he turned and called to her, ' Madame, save the 
queen ; they come to murder her,' She suddenly closed the door 
on this hapless victim to his duty, pushed in the large bolt, and 
took the same precaution as she passed through the next room ; 
having reached the queen's room, she cried, ' Madame, get out of 
bed ; do not dress yourself ; fly to the king's room ! ' The queen, 
in terror, sprang out of bed ; a petticoat was put on her without 
being tied, and the two ladies conducted her towards the ml de 
hceuf. One door of the queen's dressing-room, adjoining this 
room, was never bolted except on her side. What a frightful 
moment ! It was bolted on the other side ! We knocked re- 
peatedly ; a servant of the king's valet opened it ; the queen en- 
tered the room of Louis XVI., and did not find him there. In 
alarm for the queen's life he had gone down by the stairs and 
corridors which pass under the ceil de bcetif Txnd lead to the queen's 
room without the necessity of crossing that apartment. He en- 
tered the room of her Majesty, and found only the body-guards 
who had taken refuge there. The king told them to wait some 
minutes, as he feared to risk their lives, and bade them go then 
to the ceil de bceuf. Mme de Tourzel, then governess of the chil- 
dren of France, had brought Madame and the Dauphin to the 
king's chamber. The queen saw her children again. We ma}' 
paint for ourselves this scene of tenderness and of desolation." — 
Mme Campan. 

"The murderers, meeting no further resistance, entered, 
and penetrated to the queen's bed, the curtains of which they 
lifted. Furious at finding their victim escaped, they rushed at the 
bed and pierced it with their pikes. From the queen's apart- 
ments, they returned into the gallery, to force the ceil de bceuf 2Lndi 
the king's apartments. In the rage which transported them they 
would have massacred all the royal family, if they had not met in 



SALON DE LA RELNE 



;i 



this anteroom some old grenadiers of the French Guards who 
took the body-guards under their protection, and who, in concert 
with a few of them, defended the king's door. The grenadiers 
threatened to fire on this horde of wretches, if they did not at 
once quit the chateau. They sneaked off by the great staircase, 
and joined, in the courtyard, the group of ruffians who were pre- 
paring to put to death the fifteen body-guards under the very 
windows of the king." — Weber, Mhnoires. 

The next room, Le Salon de la Reine, was the meeting 
place for the Court of Louis XIV. after dinner. Mme de 
Sevigne describes the scene whilst Mme de Montespan 
was in the height of her favor. 

"29th July, 1676. — You know the ceremony of dressing the 
queen, the mass, the dinner ; but it is no longer necessary to be 
suffocated while their Majesties are at dinner, for at three o'clock 
the king, the queen. Monsieur, Madame, Mademoiselle, all the 
princes and princesses, Mme de Montespan, her suite, the 
courtiers, the ladies, in fine, all that is called the Court of 
France is found in that fine apartment of the king, which you 
know. The furniture is divine, everything is magnificent. We 
do not know what it is to be warm there, for we can pass freely 
from one spot to another. A game of reversis arranges everything. 
The king is next to Mme de Montespan, who deals. Monsieur, 
the queen, and Mme de Soubise, Dangeau and company, Langlee 
and company ; a thousand louis are scattered on the cloth, there 
are no other counters. I saluted the king as you taught me ; he 
returned my salute as if I had been young and pretty. The queen 
talked a long time with me about her illness. M. the Duke paid 
me a thousand compliments, and then tutti quanti. Mme de 
Montespan spoke of Bourbon, and begged me to tell her about 
Vichy. Her beauty is surprising ; her figure is not half as stout 
as it was, without her complexion, eyes, or lips being less beauti- 
ful. She was dressed entirely in point de France, her hair in a 
thousand curls, the two on the temples falling down low on the 
cheeks ; black ribbons on her head, the pearls of the Mare- 
chale d'Hopital, set with clasps and pendants of diamonds of 
the highest beauty, three or four pins, no cap, in a word, a 
triumphant beauty to astonish all the ambassadors. She knew 
that there were complaints that she prevented all France from 
seeing the king ; she has restored him as you see, and you cannot 



72 DA YS ^EAR PARIS 

imagine the joy of all the world, nor the beauty this gives the 
court. This agreeable confusion, without confusion, of all that is 
most select, lasts from three to six. If couriers arrive, the king 
retires for a moment to read his letters and then returns. There 
is always some music to which he listens, and which has a good 
effect ; he converses with the ladies who are accustomed to have 
that honor. The game is given up at six o'clock. ... At six, the 
king, Mme de Montespan, M, and Mme de Thianges enter a car- 
riage with the nurse Heudicourt on the step, that is, in paradise, 
or the glory of Niquee. You know how these carriages are made ; 
they cannot see each other, for all face the same way. The queen 
was in another with the princesses, and then all the world trooped 
together as it pleased. There are gondolas on the canal ; there is 
music there, and, on our return at ten, there is a play ; midnight 
strikes, we say media noche.'" 

The pictures in this room include : — 

2099. Joseph Christophe : The Baptism of Louis de France, 

Dauphin, son of Louis XIV. 
2110. Establishment of the Hotel des Invalides. 
2098. Visit of Louis XIV. to the Gobelins. 

The portraits are : — 

2101. Hyacinthe Rigaud: Louis de France, Due de Bourgogne, 
the beloved pupil of Fenelon. 

"A prince whom every one could not but respect, and the 
few remarks he made occasionally or at the council were received 
with surprising attention and carried real weight. 

" He was short rather than tall, a long brown face, the upper 
part perfect, the loveliest e3^es in the world, a bright, touching, 
striking, admirable look, usually gentle, always piercing, and an 
agreeable, proud, refined, spirituelle countenance that inspired 
esprit. The lower part of the face rather pointed ; the nose, long, 
prominent, but not handsome, did not suit him well ; the hair 
was chestnut, so curly and abundant that it puffed out. It was 
soon perceptible that his figure was changing. He became hump- 
backed." — St. Simon. 

" He was a virtuous, just and intelligent man. He comforted 
the king when he could ; he was compassionate and gave alms 
freely; he sold all his mother's jewels and gave the money for 
poor wounded officers. He did all the good in his power, and 
hurt no one during his whole life." — Correspondance de Madame. 



SALON DE LA REINE 



73 



2I0I. Marie Adelaide de Savoie, Duchesse de Bourgogne, 

"4th Nov., 1696. — She has the highest grace and the best 
figure I ever saw : dressed for a picture, and her head, too ; her 
eyes are bright and very beautiful, the lashes black and charm- 
ing, the complexion well blended, as white and red as you can 
desire ; the most beautiful black hair that can be seen, and in 
great quantity ; the mouth red, the lips full, the teeth white, long 
and irregular, the hands well made, but of the color of her age. 
... I am quite content. ... I hope you will be so too. Her 
air is noble, her manner polished and agreeable. I take pleasure 
in telling you this good report, for I find that, without prejudice 
or flattery, I am compelled to do so." — Louis XLV. to Mine de 
Maintenoji after meeting the Duchesse de Botirgogne at Montarges. 

" 15th Dec, 1710. — As for the Duchess de Bourgogne, I see 
to-day all the world chanting her praises, her good heart, her 
noble spirit, and agreeing that she knows how to keep a thronged 
court in respect. I see her adored by the Duke de Bourgogne, 
tenderly loved b}^ the king, who has just placed his household in 
her hands to dispose of as she likes, saying publicly that she will 
be capable of directing the greatest afiairs." ^ — Alme de Alaintenoti. 

"The king had brought her up completely to his wishes. She 
was his only consolation and only joy. Her temper was so gay 
that she always knew how to efface his wrinkles, however gloomy 
he was. A hundred times a day she ran to him, and always said 
something pleasant." — Correspondance de Madame. 

2103. Rigaud : Philippe V., Roi d'Espagne, grandson of Louis 

XIV. 

2104. Charles de France, Due de Berry, grandson of Louis 

XIV., younger brother of the Due de Bourgogne and 
Philippe V. of Spain, who died May 4, 1714, with 
strong suspicions of poison. 

" M. the Duke de Berry was of the ordinary height of most 
men, rather stout every way, of a beautiful blond complexion, 
a fresh, handsome countenance which indicated brilliant health. 
He was made for society, and for the pleasures he loved ; the 
best, gentlest, most feeling, most accessible man, without pride 
or vanity, but not without dignity, nor without feeling it. He 
was the best looking and most gracious of the three brothers, and 
consequently the most loved, the most caressed, the most admired 

* Letter to the Princesse des Ursins. 



^4 BAYS NEAR PARIS 

by the world. He was the favorite son of Monseigneur, by taste, 
and by his natural inclination for freedom and pleasure." — St. 
Simon. 

V Antichambre de la Reine. This was used as a dining- 
room for the grand convert de la reine. 

"One of the most disagreeable customs for the queen was 
that of dining in public every da)% Marie Leczinska always fol- 
lowed this tiresome usage ; Marie Antoinette observed it while 
she was Dauphiness. The Dauphin dined with her, and every 
table of the household had its public dinner every day. The 
ushers let all well dressed people enter, and the sight delighted 
the provincials. At the dinner hour one met on the stairs only 
good, honest folk, who, after having seen the Dauphiness take 
her soup, went to see the princes eat their boiled joint, and then, 
hurried breathlessly to see Mesdames take desert." — Mjne Cain- 
pan. 

The ceiling comes from the Ducal Palace at Venice. 
The pictures comprise — 

2106. Halle : The Doge of Venice and Louis XIV. 
2605. E. Tranque : Siege of Lille. 

2109. Lebrun : Louis XIV. on horseback. 

"The king surpassed all the courtiers by the perfection of 
his figure, and the majestic beauty of his face ; the sound of his 
voice, noble and touching, gained the hearts his presence intimi- 
dated ; he had a bearing which befitted him, and his rank alone, 
and would have been ridiculous in any one else ; the embarrass- 
ment he inspired in those he spoke to secretly flattered the com- 
placency with which he felt his superiority. Louis XIV. is suffi- 
ciently depicted in these two verses from the B^r/nice of Racine : — 

" ' Qu'en quelque obscurite que le ciel I'eut fait naitre, 
Le monde, en le voyant, eut reconnu son maitre.' " 

Volfaire. 

2107. Lebrun and Vandermeulen : The Defeat of the Spanish 

army at Bruges, Aug. 3, 1667. 

2108. Girard : Philippe de France, Comte d'Anjou (second 

grandson of Louis XIV.), declared King of Spain, 
as Philippe V. 



SALLE DU SACRR 



n 



The portraits are — 

2113. Mme de Maintenon. 

2115. Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse, sec- 

ond son of Louis XIV. and Mme de Montespan. 

" He was very short, but he possessed honor, virtue, upright- 
ness, truth, even dignity, a manner of receiving as gracious as a 
natural but icy coldness permitted ; a desire and capacity for 
action, but by fair means, while his just and direct sense, usually, 
supplied the place of intelligence." — St. Sitnon. 

2110. Anne de Chabot-Rohan, Comtesse de Soubise. 

21 14. Louis de Bourbon, Comte de Vermandois, son of Louis 

XIV. and Mile de la Valliere. 

By the door which the Garde du Corps was murdered 
while defending, October 6, 1789, and which the bed- 
chamber women bolted on the inside, we enter La Salle 
des Gardes de la Reine invaded by the torrent of revolu- 
tionists armed with pikes and sabres, shrieking for the 
blood of Marie Antoinette. 

2116. After Mi guard : Louis de France, le Grand Dauphin, 

and his family. 

2117. Satiterre : Marie Adelaide de Savoie, Duchesse de Bour- 

gogne, afterwards Dauphine. A lovely picture. 

"Everything the Dauphiness says is just and well turned ; it 
leaves nothing to be desired in wit or in humor, and this is such 
a gift that the rest is forgotten." — Mme de Se'vign/. 

Now, for a moment, we quit the historic recollections 
of the old regime to enter upon La Salle du Sacre, fur- 
nished a V Empire^ and adorned with busts of Josephine, 
Marie Louise, and the parents of Napoleon. In the centre 
is "Gli Ultimi Giorni di Napoleone primo," a noble work 
of Vela, i860. On the walls are — 

2277. David : Coronation of Napoleon I. — an immense pict- 
ure, containing one hundred figures. The painter 
at first represented Pius VII. with his hands upon his 
knees. The Emperor forced him to alter this, say- 



^^ DAYS NEAR PARIS 

ing, " Je ne I'ai pas fait venir de si loin pour ne rien 
faire." When the Emperor went to the artist's studio 
to see the picture — 

"The courtiers reproached the painter for having made the 
Empress the heroine of the picture, by representing her corona- 
tion rather than Napoleon's. The objection is certainly not with- 
out foundation. It might have been thought that the new 
sovereign had foreseen, calculated, arranged everything in ad- 
vance with his first painter. . . . When all the court was drawn 
up before the picture, Napoleon, with his head covered, walked 
for more than half an hour before the large canvas, examining all 
the details with the most scrupulous attention, while David and 
the spectators remained silent and motionless. ... At last he 
spoke: 'It is well, David, VQxy well; you have divined my 
thought ; you have given me French chivalry. I thank you for 
having handed down to future ages this proof of the affection I 
wished to give to her who shares with me the toils of government,' 
Soon after Napoleon took two steps towards David, raised his 
hat, and, with a slight inclination of the head, said in raised 
voice, ' David, I salute you.' " — Delescluse. 

The picture represents many persons not present, as 
Mme Mere, who was at Rome at the time of the corona- 
tion. 

2278. David: Distribution of Eagles to the Army, Dec. 5, 

1804. 
2276. Gros : The Battle of Aboukir, July 25, 1799. 
Between the windows are portraits of Napoleon at different 

times. That (No. 2279) representing him during the 

Italian campaigns is by Rouillard. 

With the second of the two succeeding rooms we re- 
turn to the times of Louis XIV., as it was the Grand Cab- 
inet of Mme de Maintenon — " la toute-puissante," as the 
Duchesse d'Orleans calls her in her letters. 

"The apartments of Mme de Maintenon were on the first 
floor, opposite the hall of the king's guards. The antechamber 
was rather a long narrow passage to another antechamber, ex- 
actly similar, in which only the captains of the guards entered, 
then a large, very deep chamber. Between the door, giving en- 



SALLE DU SACRE 



11 



trance from this second antechamber, and the chimney, was the 
king's armchair, backed up to the wall, a table before it and a 
stool for the minister who was working with him. On the other 
side of the chimney-piece, a niche of red damask, and an arm- 
chair, where Mme de Maintenon remained with a little table 
before her. Further on, her bed in a recess. Opposite the foot 
of the bed, a door with five steps to mount, then a large cabinet, 
opening on the first antechamber of the day-rooms of the Duke 
de Bourgogne, which this door enfiladed, and which is to-day the 
apartment of Cardinal Fleury. This first antechamber, having 
this room to the right and on the left the grand cabinet of Mme 
de Maintenon, descended, as it still does, by five steps into the 
marble saloon adjoining the landing of the great stairway at the 
end of the two galleries, upper and lower, called those of the 
Duchess of Orleans and of the princes. Every evening the 
Duchess de Bourgogne played cards in Mme de Maintenon's 
grand cabinet with the ladies to whom the entry was given, a favor 
not extensively accorded, and thence entered, as often as she 
liked, the adjoining room which was the chamber of Mme de 
Maintenon, where she was with the king, the fire-place between 
them. Monseigneur, after the comedy, went up to this grand 
cabinet, which the king never and Mme de Maintenon rarely 
entered. 

"Before the king's supper, the servants of Mme de Mainte- 
non brought her some soup and a plate and some other dish. 
She eat her supper, her women and one valet serving, the king 
alwa)^s present and almost always a minister at work. Supper 
over — it was short — the table was removed ; her women remained 
and immediately undressed her in a minute, and put her in bed. 
When the king received word that his supper was ready, he 
passed for a moment into the dressing-room, and afterwards 
went to say a word to Mme de Maintenon, and then rang a bell 
which communicated with the grand cabinet. Then Monseigneur, 
if he was there, the Duke and Duchess de Bourgogne and her 
ladies, the Duke de Berry, filed into the room of Mme de Main- 
tenon, merely traversing it, and preceded the king, who pro- 
ceeded to take his place at table, followed by Mme the Duchess 
de Bourgogne and her ladies. Those who were not in her ser- 
vice, either went away, or, if they were dressed to go to the 
supper (for the privilege of entering this cabinet was to form a 
court there for the Duchess de Bourgogne without it being one), 
made a tour through the grand guard-room without entering Mme 



78 £>AVS NBA A' PARIS 

de Maintenon's room. No man, save the three princes, ever en- 
tered the grand cabinet." — St. Si?non,i'jo^. 

Hence we enter — 

La Salle de 1792^ called Salle des Cent-Suisses under 
Louis XVI. ^ decorated with portraits of the Consulate and 
Empire. The little rooms adjoining, now called Salles des 
Aquarelles^ were the apartments of the Due de Bourgogne, 
afterwards of Cardinal Fleury and the Due de Penthievre. 
Returning to the Salle de 1792, and crossing a landing 
which has statues of Louis XIV. by Marin., Napoleon I. 
by Cartellier, and Louis Philippe by Dumont, we reach — 

(The south wing) La Galerie des Batailles, formed 
under Louis Philippe from the suite of apartments in- 
habited under Louis XIV. by Monsieur (Due d'Orleans) 
and his children. We may notice — 

2672. Ary Scheffer : Charlemagne at Paderborn. 
2676. Etigene Delacroix : Battle of Taillebourg. 
2715, Gerard : Henry IV. entering Paris. 
2765. Gerard: Battle of Austerlitz. 

Battle of Bovines. 



2674. 

2743. 
2768. 
2772. 
2776. 



Battle of Fontenoy. 
> Horace Vernet:-{ Battle of Jena. 

Battle of Friedland. 
Battle of Wagram. 



The gallery ends in the Salo7t de 1830 (in the ancient 
Pavilion de la Surintendance), containing pictures of 
events in the reign of Louis Philippe. 

Hence we must return to the little rooms belonging to 
the apartment of Mme de Maintenon, which now form a 
passage to a staircase — L' E scalier de Marbre, leading to 
the upper floor of the south wing. Here, turning left, we 
enter — 

Salle L. (time of Louis XVIII. and Charles X.), begin- 
ning on the right— 



HISTORIC PORTRAITS 



79 



4799. GSrard : Caroline Duchesse de Berry and her children. 
(Daughter of Ferdinand I., King of the two Sicilies, 
and sister of Christina of Spain ; the heroine of the 
civil war in La Vendee, where she was found con- 
cealed in a chimney, Nov. 7, 1832, and imprisoned 
at Blaye. She married as her second husband Count 
Lucchesi Palli, of Venice, by whom she had several 
children.) 

4795. Gerard : Charles X. 

" All the royal qualities of his soul were written in his coun- 
tenance ; nobleness, frankness, majesty, goodness, honor, can- 
dor, all revealed a man to love and be beloved. Depth and 
solidity alone were wanting in the face ; in looking at it, one felt 
attracted to the man, but doubtful about the king." — La?nartine. 

4798. Gdrard : Charles Ferdinand d'Artois, Due de Berry, 
1778-1820, murdered at the door of the Opera house. 

4831. Jeanne Louise Henriette Genet, Mme Campan, super- 
intendent of the College of Ecouen. 

"Mme Campan, to whom Louis XVL, in 1792, confided the 
most secret and dangerous papers, for whom Louis XVL in his 
cell at Les Feuillants, August 10, 1792, cut off two locks of his 
hair, giving one to her, the other to his sister, while the queen, 
throwing her arms alternately round their necks, exclaimed, 
* Unhappy women ; you are so only on my account ; I am more 
so than you.' " — De Lally. 

4833. Stephanie St. Aubin, Comtesse de Genlis. 

4797. Gros : Marie Therese, Duchesse d'Angouleme, Dau- 

phine. 
4830. Lawrence: Gerard. 
4835. Delaroche : Gregory XVL 
4803. Delaroche : The Due d'Angouleme at the taking of 

Trocadero. 

4796. G&ard : Louis Antoine d'Artois, Due d'Angouleme. 
4794. Gerard : Le Comte d'Artois, afterwards Charles X. 

Salle II. — 

4789. David: Pius VIL — a replica of the portrait m the 

Louvre. 
4786. Gros : His own portrait. 
4715. Meynier : Joseph Fesch, Cardinal Archbishop of Lyons. 

uncle of Napoleon L 



8o DAYS NEAR PARIS 

"The gentlest and most imperturbable man of society." — 
M^moires de la Duchesse d'Abrantes. 

(Unn.) Guerin (after Gerard) : Marie Louise. 

"Her height was ordinary; what she was utterly devoid of 
was grace. Very fresh complexion, pretty hair, these were the 
charms that seduced Napoleon." — M^moires de la Duchesse 
d'Abrantes. 

4785. Godefroid : Mme Campan. 

4700. Le Thiere : The Empress Josephine. 

"Without being precisely pretty, her whole person was pe- 
culiarl)'- charming. There were delicacy and harmony in her feat- 
ures ; her look was gentle ; a small mouth skilfulh' concealed 
bad teeth ; her complexion, rather dark, was aided by the red and 
white she habituall)'^ employed ; her figure was perfect, all her 
limbs supple and delicate ; her slightest movements were easy 
and elegant. To no one more fully could be applied the verse of 
La Fontaine : 

" * Et la grace plus belle encor que la beaute.' " 

Mme de Remusat. 

4705. Menjard : Napoleon L, with Marie Louise and the King 

of Rome. 
(Unn.) Rotiget : Napoleon presenting the King of Rome to 

the great dignitaries of the Empire. 

Salle III.— 

Pictures of Royal Palaces. 

Salle IV.— 
English Portraits. 

Galerie. — The historic pictures here are terribly injured 
by coarse "restoration j" they are also all stripped of their 
original frames. 

Right Wall— 

4558. Gh'ard : Laetitia Ramolino, mother of Napoleon — 
"Mme Mere." 

"A woman of moderate intelligence, who, in spite of the rank 
to which events raised her, presents nothing to praise." — Mme de 
Rhnusat. 



HISTORIC PORTRAITS 8i 

" Mme Bonaparte, the mother, had a high and remarkable 
character ; good at bottom, with a cold exterior, and possessing 
great sense." — Menwires de la Dtichesse d'Abj'atites. 

(Unn.) Jeanron : Honore Gabriel de Riqueti, Comte de Mira- 

beau. 
4616. Girodet: Belley, a ransomed black slave, who was a 

deputy at the Convention. 
4610. Rouillard : Camille Desmoulins. 

4613. Haner : Charlotte Corday, painted a few minutes before 

she was taken to execution. When the executioner 
entered, she took the scissors from his hands, and, 
cutting off a long tress of her hair, gave it to the 
painter as a remembrance. 

4614. Mme Roland. 

4531. Mauzaisse : Mme de Genlis, with Eugenie Adelaide 
d'Orleans, and Pamela, afterwards Lady Edward 
Fitzgerald. 

" Mme de Genlis died three months after the Revolution of 
July. She lived just long enough to see her pupil king. Louis 
Philippe was most truly a little of her making ; she had educated 
him, like a man, not like a woman." — Victor Hugo, "' Choses 
Vues." 

4523. Risault : Marie Therese Louise de Savoie Carignan, 

Princesse de Lamballe. 
4458. Nattier: "Madame Sophie," called " Graille " by her 

father, Louis XV. A very pretty picture, though we 

read — 

" Madame Sophie was very plain ; I never saw anybody 
with such an uncouth air ; she walked very quick, and in order 
to recognize, without staring, the people who drew up to let her 
pass, she had acquired the habit of looking from side to side 
like a hare. This princess was so timid that you might see her 
every day for years and never hear her utter a word. It is said, 
however, that she displayed intelligence, and even amiability, in 
the society of some favorite ladies ; she studied much, but read 
alone ; the presence of a reader annoyed her infinitely." — Mme 
Campan. 

4442. Elizabeth d'Orleans, Mile de Beaujolais. 

4428. Nattier : Marie Louise de France, " Madame Louise," 

4386. Alexis Belle : Louis XV. as a boy. 



82 I)A YS NEAR PARIS 

4329. Rigaud : Gaston Armand de Rohan, Cardinal de Rohan. 

5065. Escot : Jean Jacques Rousseau. 

4476. Vanloo : Louis Phelipeaux, Comte de St. Florentin, 

Secretary of State. 
4302. Largilliere : The Regent d'Orleans. 

4275. Jean de la Fontaine. 

"La Fontaine, so well known for his Fables and Tales, and 
always so heavy in conversation." — St, Simon, '' M^fnoires," 16^^. 

*2i96. Frangoise d'Aubigne, Mme de Maintenon, and Fran- 
goise Charlotte d'Aubigne, afterwards Duchesse de 
Noailles. 

4074. Catherine de Medicis. 

4120. Ary Scheffer : Henri IV. — " sa majestea labarbegrise," 
as Gabrielle d'Estrees used to call him. 

41 17. Henri IV,, aged thirty-eight. XVII. c. 

Left Wall {returning), 
*4270. Philippe de Champaigne : Catherine Agnes d'Arnauld, 
Abbess of Port-Royal, who at six years old became 
Abbess of St. Cyr, and at nine could repeat the whole 
of the Psalms by heart. 

4276. Rigaud : Nicolas Boileau. 

4374. Greuze : Bernard le Borier de Fontenelle. 
4421. Largilliere: Nicolas Coustou. 
4416. Largilliere : The Painter and his Family, 
4405. Chancellor Maupeou. 

4510. Nattier: Louise Elizabeth de France, "Madame I'ln- 
fante," eldest daughter of Louis XV. 

"Madame Infante, who was singularly fat, loved very rich 
dress, and possessed great good nature that, without injuring her 
dignity, penetrated every action." — Memoi7'es du Comte Duport de 

Cheverny. 

4455. Nattier : Anne Henriette de France, " Madame Henri- 
ette," second daughter of Louis XV. 

" Henriette lived like the queen. All called her a saint, and 
called her just what we saw she was. When compelled to go 
to the Comedy, she said her "^xdcyQxs"— Journal of Mme Louise de 
France. 

4441. Marie Leczinska. 



HISTORIC PORTRAITS 83 

" Marie Leczinska brought nothing, as a portion, on the day 
of her nuptials,, except modesty, virtue, and goodness of heart." — 
WraxalVs ''Hist. Memoirs." 

4485. Roslin : Frangois Boucher. 

4448. After Drouais : Mme du Barry and her black page 
Zamore (who afterwards betrayed her to death). 
*4520. Mme Lebrun : Marie Antoinette and her three children. 
The artist relates in her Memoirs that the queen al- 
ways passed this picture on her way to and from mass 
in the chapel. After the first Dauphin died in 1789 
it recalled her loss so vividly that she had it moved, 
sending at the same time to tell Mme Lebrun the 
reason, for fear her feelings should be hurt. 

"The only good portraits of the queen, in existence, are that 
by Werthmuller, first painter to the king of Sweden, and that by 
Mme Lebrun, saved from the fury of the revolution by the com- 
missaires of the wardrobe at Versailles. There reigns in the com- 
position of this picture, a striking analogy with that of Henriette 
of France, wife of the unfortunate Charles L, painted by Van 
Dyck ; like Marie Antoniette, she is seated surrounded by her 
children, and this resemblance adds much to the melancholy in- 
terest which this beautiful work inspires." — Mme Campan. 

" Le ciel mit dans ses traits cet eclat qu'on admire • 
France, il la couronna pour ta felicite : 
Un sceptre est inutile avec tant de beaute ; 
Mais a tant de vertu il fallait un empire." 

La Harpe. 

4556. Lebrun: Gretry, the famous dramatic composer, 1741- 

1813. 
4561. George Washington. 
4526. M?ne Lebrun : Louise Marie Adelaide de Bourbon, Du- 

chesse d'Orleans. 
4551. Boilly : Marmontel. 

4529. Antoine Philippe d'Orleans, Due de Montpensier. 
4607. David: Barere. 

4538. Schillz : Louis Antoine de Bourbon, Due d'Enghien. 
4550. Danloux : Jacques Delille. 
*4630. Greuze : Napoleon Bonaparte, as First Consul. 

Returning to Salle I. we find a little cabinet containing 
a number of sketches for pictures by Gerard, 



84 DA YS NEAR PARIS 

Beyond the head of the Escalier de Marbre are four 
rooms filled with modern pictures. The second room con- 
tains portraits of Louis Philippe, Marie Amelie, Madame 
Adelaide, and all the princes and princesses of the House 
of Orleans, mostly by Winterhalter. 

'* The king's error was in not despairing soon enough. He 
was accustomed to good fortune, and the good fortune of his long 
life betrayed him in the last days of his reign," — La??iartine. 

**The queen Marie Amelie had an exquisite and charming 
dignity, and represented grace and distinction in the somewhat 
bourgeois circles of the court." — Paul Vassili. 

"Madame Adelaide was an intelligent woman and of good 
advice, which was freely bestowed in harmony with the king, but 
never in excess. Madame Adelaide had something manly and 
cordial, and much tact." — Victor Hugo. 

2nd Room. — 
Bonnet: M. Thiers. 

2,rd Room. — The Bonaparte family,^ including — 
1561. David : Napoleon I. crossing the Great St. Bernard. 
5134. Lefevre : Napoleon I. in his imperial robes. 

" Bonaparte is short, not well proportioned, because the length 
of his bust makes the rest of his person seem short. He has thin, 
chestnut hair, grey-blue eyes, a yellow complexion, while he was 
thin, which, later, became of a dull colorless white. The line of 
his brow, the setting of his e)'^e, the outline of the nose, were all 
beautiful and recalled ancient medals. His mouth, rather flat, 
becomes agreeable when he laughs ; his teeth are regular ; his 
chin a trifle short, and the jaw square and heavy ; he has pretty 
hands and feet ; I note this because he is very proud of them." — 
AInie de Rimusat. 

"For those who often approached Napoleon, there remains 
one recollection which is inseparable from his presence ; that is 
the light which spread over all his features when he smiled, but 
with the consciousness of smiling ; then his eyes, that really were 
beautiful, and his incomparable look, grew gentle, and however 

1 The Bonapartes descend from Bonaparte di Cianfardo, who (when ex- 
pelled from Florence during the civic broils) settled with his family at Sarzana 
in the middle of the XIII. c. Hence Francesco di Giovanni Bonaparte was 
sent by the Republic of Genoa to Corsica, c. 1512. 



E SCALIER DE MARBRE 85 

little the smile might be provoked by a noble sentiment, his coun- 
tenance then assumed a divine expression. In such moments the 
man was more than man." — Mdi^wires de la Duchesse d' Abranth. 

"The only eulogy worthy of his Majesty is the most simple 
history of his reign." — Muraire, Premier Prhident de la Cour de 
Cassation. 

Girard : Josephine. 

4702. Marie Louise and Napoleon II. 

" Napoleon loved Marie Louise for rank and pride. She was 
the blazon of his affiliation to the great families. She was the 
mother of his son, the perpetuation of his ambition. . . . She 
was a pretty Tyrolese girl, with blue eyes, light hair, and a slender, 
supple figure." — Lamartine. 

5132. Gdrard : Madame Mere. 
Benoist : Marie Pauline, Princess Borghese. 
Lef^vre: Mme Clary, Queen of Naples. 

4412. Mme Lebrun : Caroline, Mme Murat, Grande-Duchesse 
de Berg, afterwards Queen of Naples. 

"The Grand Duchess of Berg (Caroline) was the youngest 
and prettiest princess of the imperial family ; I say the prettiest 
because she was as fresh as a bunch of roses." — Mdmoires de la 
Duchesse d^Abrantes. 

Plundered of all her fortune by Ferdinand I., she lived, after 
the fall of the empire, at different places in Austria with her 
sister Elise. 

4714. Marie Julie, Queen of Spain. 

4635. Lefevre : Lucien, Prince of Canino. 

Le Thilre : Marianne-Elise, Mme Baciocchi, Princess of 
Piombino, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, called, for her 
wise government and efforts for the amelioration of her 
country, " La Semiramis de Lucques." 

" I never knew a woman with such disagreeable points as 
hers.*" — M^moires de la Duchesse d^Abrantes. 

Flandrin : Napoleon III., the Empress Eugenie, and the 
Princesses Mathilde and Clotilde. 

A corridor contains pictures of events in the reign of 
Louis Philippe. 

We may now descend the Escalier de Marbre^ the 



S6 ^A YS NEAR PARIS 

famous staircase where Louis XIV. waited for the Grand 
Conde, weak from age and wounds, saying, " Mon cousin, 
ne vous pressez pas, on ne pent monter tres-vite quand on 
est charge comme vous de tant de lauriers." After de- 
scending, at the foot of the Escalier de Marbre, we find 
ourselves on the ground floor of the palace, and may finish 
exploring the south wing, by traversing several vestibules 
leading to a series of halls which formed the apartments 
of the Due and Duchesse de Bourbon under Louis XIV. 
(as far as the Vestibule Napoleon), and which now are the 
Galeries de V Empire. The pictures in these rooms, of the 
modern French school, illustrating the glories of the past 
Empire, are of no great interest. The last hall — Salle de 
Marengo — contains : 

1567. David: The First Consul crossing the Great St. 
Bernard. 

Hence, descending a few steps of the Escalier de 
Monsieur, we find — 

Les Salles des Marines, called Le Pavilion de Monsieur 
from having been inhabited, under Louis XVI., by his 
second brother, the Comte de Provence (Louis XVIII. ). 
The pictures are by modern French artists, many of them 
by Gudin. From these halls we cross the Vestibule de 
V Escalier de Provence to the Salles des Tombeaux under the 
ground floor, because the level of the ground is so much 
lower on the garden side of the palace. Mounting 
L' Escalier de Monsieur on the right (parallel with the 
Galeries de 1' Empire) we find — 

La quatrieme Galerie de Sculptures, containing busts 
and statues of celebrated persons from the Great Revolu- 
tion to 1814. 

This completes the tour of the south wing. Descend- 



SALLES DES TABLEAUX-PLANS gy 

mg'L^Escalier des Princes, and crossing the vestibule lead- 
ing to the gardens, we may enter the halls on the ground 
floor of the central part of the palace. Three vestibules 
filled with sculpture lead to a number of rooms which 
formed the apartment of " Monseigneur " (Le grand 
Dauphin), son of Louis XIV., and, after his death, of the 
Due and Duchesse de Berry ; then, later, of the Dauphin, 
son of Louis XV. Of these, the — 

Salle des Amiraux contains portraits of French admi- 
rals from Florent de Varennes in 1270, admiral under St. 
Louis, to the Due d'Angouleme, son of Charles X. 

Salle des Connetables. — There were thirty-nine constables 
under the old monarchy, the most illustrious being Du- 
guesclin, Olivier de Clisson — "le boucher des Anglais," 
and Anne de Montmorency. The last was Lesdiguieres, 
under Louis XIII. 

Salles des Marechaux. — The portraits of the Marshals 
of France, more than 300 in number, fill thirteen halls. 
We should turn aside at the seventh hall if we wish to 
enter the — 

Salle des Rois de France, containing a collection of por- 
traits of sovereigns. 

Les Salles des Residences royales contain a number of 
pictures of interest, especially those of palaces which have 
been destroyed — Marly, the old Louvre, the Tour de Nesle, 
&c., as well as of Versailles at many different periods. 

Returning to the Salle des Rois de France, and cross- 
ing the Vestibule de Louis XIII. , opening upon the Cour de 
Marbre, we reach the — 

Salles des Tableaux-Flans, containing plans of battles 
from 1627 to 1844. The salle which forms the angle of 
one of the pavilions of the chateau of Louis XIII. was part 
of the Salle des Gardes pour V Apparte7nent particulier du 



gg DA YS NEAR PARIS 

Roij with the staircase called VEscalier du Roi. Louis 
XV. was descending this staircase, when he was attacked 
by Damiens, who was seized in the hall below. 

"The 5th of January, in the evening, as the king was de- 
scending into the marble court, to go from Versailles to Trianon, 
a man glided between the guards and him, and gave him a blow 
in the side. Louis carried his hand to the spot struck, and drew 
it back stained with blood. With some presence of mind, he rec- 
ognized the assassin by his having his hat on alone, and had 
him seized — ordered that no violence be done him. There was 
nothing found on him but a knife with two blades, the smaller, 
a kind of penknife ; it was with this that he had struck, and, thanks 
to the thick redingote in which the king was wrapped, the point 
only entered four lines. 

"Damiens had no accomplices, and was not, speaking 
strictly, an assassin. He was a lackey out of place, with a brain 
bewildered and excited by remarks heard in the Great Hall of 
the Palais, or in the ante-chambers of some councillors of the 
parliament and some pious Jansenists. He did not wish to kill 
the king, but only to give him a warning, in order that he should 
cease persecuting the parliament, and punish the archbishop, the 
cause of all the ill. He ought to have been sent to Bicetre ; he 
was condemned to the frightful punishment borne by Ravaillac : 
he was torn by pincers, melted lead was poured on him, and he 
was then quartered by four horses (28th March, 1757)." — Martin, 
''''Hist, de Fraftce." 

Returning hence, we cross the vestibule, to the Galerk 
de Louis XIII., containing his statue, that of Anne of Aus- 
tria, and — 

Charles Lebrun : The Meeting of Louis XIV. and Philippe 
IV. at the Isle of Pheasants. 

Several of the last six Salles des Marechaux formed part 
of the Appartement des Bains., inhabited by " Mesdames," 
daughters of Louis XV. The last salle was the bedcham- 
ber of Mme de Pompadour. 

Les Salles des Guerriers cklebres contain the portraits of 
famous warriors (not constables or marshals). These 



THE GARDE A^S 89 

rooms were the cabinet and antechamber of Mme de Pom- 
padour. 

The garden front of the palace has not yet experienced 
the soothing power of age. It looks almost new ; two hun- 
dred years hence it will be magnificent. The long lines of 
the building, with its two vast wings, are only broken by 
the top of the chapel rising above the wing on the left. 

" Here all is the work of Louis XIV., all is new and com- 
pletely symmetrical. The immense development of the hori- 
zontal lines compensates for the want of height in the buildings. 
It displays none of the happy irregularities of the old national 
architecture. The monotony of this absolute uniformity is inter- 
rupted only by the projection of the central bod)'' before the two 
wings, a projection that announces the portion of the palace 
consecrated by the Master's presence. This central body is 
dominant on all sides, whether one looks at it from the middle 
of the garden, or whether, from the wooded slopes of Satory, one 
has a side view of it, towering above its immense terrace, between 
the double Giant Stairs, to which there is nothing comparable. 
From all sides you must mount up to arrive at the spot where 
the supreme majesty is enthroned," — Martin, ^^ Hist, de France y 

The rich masses of green formed by the clipped yews 

at the sides of the gardens have the happiest effect, and 

contrast vividly with the dark background of chestnuts, of 

which the lower part is trimmed, but the upper falls in 

masses of heavy shade, above the brilliant gardens with 

their population of statues. These grounds are the 

masterpiece of Lenotre, and of geometrical gardening, 

decorated with vases, fountains, and orange-trees. Lovers 

of the natural may find great fault with these artificial 

gardens, but there is much that is grandiose and noble 

in them ; and, as Voltaire says : " II est plus facile de 

critiquer Versailles que de le refaire." 

"Thanks to Lenotre, Louis, from the window of his incom- 
parable Galetie des Glaces, sees nothing but his own creation. The 



90 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



entire horizon is his work, for the garden fills the horizon. It is 
at once the masterwork of the great artist who covered France 
with his monuments of verdure, and the masterwork of that 
singular art which must be judged, not by itself, but in reference 
to the edifices to whose lines its lines are united, an architecture 
of vegetation which frames and completes the architecture of 
stone and marble. Whole groves were brought, full grown, from 
the depths of the fairest forests of France, and the art of ani- 
mating marble, and the art of moving water, filled them with all 
the prodigies of which fancy could dream. An innumerable 
population of statues animates the woods and lawns, is reflected 
in the waters or rises from the bosom of the wave. All the deities 
of the forests, the rivers and the sea, all the dreams of ancient 
poetry seem to have gathered at the feet of the great king. 
Neptune seems to spout from all points the waters of Versailles 
that cross in the air in sparkling arches, Neptune is the servant 
of Louis ; Diana, the solitary goddess of the woods, becomes his 
lover under the lineaments of the chaste La Valliere. Apollo, 
his favorite symbol, presides over all this enchanted world. At 
the two extremities of the view is seen the mythologic sun, 
transparent emblem of Louis, rising from the floods on his car 
to illuminate and rule the world, and plunging into them to cast 
off the burden of celestial government in the voluptuous shade 
of the Grotto of Thetis." — Henri Martin. 

" Depuis qu'Adam, ce cruel homme, 
A perdu son fameux jardin, 
Ou sa femme, autour d'une pomme, 
Gambadait sans vertugadin, 
Je ne crois pas que sur la terre 
II soit un lieu d'arbres plante, 
Mieux exerce dans I'art de plaire, 
Plus examine, plus vante, 
Plus decrit, plus lu, plus chant6, 
Que I'ennuyeux pare de Versailles." 

Alfred de Musset. 

The gardens need the enlivenment of the figures, for 
which they were intended as a background, in the gay 
Courts of Louis XIV. and Louis XV. as represented in 
the pictures of Watteau; but the Memoirs of the time 
enable us to repeople them with a thousand forms which 



THE GARDENS 



91 



have long been dust, centring around the great king, " Se 
promenant dans ses jardins de Versailles, dans son fauteuil 
a roues." 

" If you wish to find once more this vanished world, look for 
it in the works which have preserved its outward forms or accent, 
at first in the paintings and engravings of Watteau, Fragonard 
and the St. Aubins, then in the romances and comedies of Voltaire, 
Marivaux, even Colle and Crebillon the younger ; there you see 
the figures and hear the voices. What refined countenances, 
engaging and gay, all brilliant with pleasure and desire to please ! 
What ease in gait and bearing ! What piquant grace in dress and 
smile, in the vivacious chatter, the management of the fluty voice, 
the coquetry of veiled allusions ! How one involuntarily lingers 
to look and listen ! Prettiness is ever}^where, in the small 
spiritual heads, the waving hands, the beribboned attire, the doll- 
looks and the faces." — Taine, ^^ Les Origines de la France Con- 
temporaine ." 

The sight of the magnificent terraces in front of the 
palace will recall the nocturnal promenades 'of the Court, 
so much misrepresented by the enemies of Marie An- 
toinette. 

"The summer of 1778 was extremely hot ; July and August 
passed without a single storm refreshing the air. The queen, 
inconvenienced by her pregnancy, passed whole days in her own 
strictly closed apartments, and could not sleep till she had 
breathed the fresh night air, walking with the princesses and 
their brothers, on the terrace beneath her rooms. At first, these 
walks created no sensation, but the idea arose of enjoying, dur- 
ing these beautiful summer-nights, the effect of a concert of wind 
instruments. The musicians of the chapel were ordered to per- 
form pieces of this kind, on a platform raised in the middle of 
the parterres. The queen, seated on a bench on the terrace, with 
all the royal family, except the king, who only appeared twice, 
as he did not wish to change his bedtime, enjoyed the effect of 
this beautiful music. Nothing could be more innocent than 
these walks, yet soon Paris, France, even Europe were occupied 
with them in a manner most injurious to the character of Marie 
Antoinette. It is true that all the inhabitants of Versailles 
wished to enjoy these serenades and that, very soon, there was a 



92 



DAYS NEAR PARIS 



crowd from eleven o'clock to two or three in the morning. The 
windows of the ground floor, occupied by Monsieur and Ma- 
dame, remained open, and the terrace was perfectly lighted by 
numerous candles in these two apartments. Some terrines, 
placed in the parterres, and the lights on the platform of the 
musicians, lighted up the rest of the place where they were. 

" I do not know if some thoughtless women ventured to go 
off and descend into the lower part of the park ; it may be so ; 
but the queen, Madame, and the Comtesse d'Artois, were arm in 
arm, and remained on the terrace. Dressed in robes of white 
percale, with large straw hats, and muslin veils (a costume 
generally adopted by the women), while the princesses were 
seated on the benches, they were difficult to distinguish ; but, 
when standing, their different stature made them always easy to 
recognize, and the others drew up to let them pass. It is true 
that, when they sat down on the benches, some private persons 
came and sat beside them, which amused them much." — Mme 
Campan, ^^ Miinoires." 

Very stately is the view down the main avenue — great 
fountains of many figures in the foreground ; then the 
brilliant Tapis Vert, between masses of rich wood; then 
the Bassifi d^Apollo?i, and the great canal extending to 
distant meadows, and lines of natural poplars. 

One of the finest views of the palace, giving an impres- 
sion of its immensity, is from the head of the steps which 
descend from the terrace of the Parterre du Midi, towards 
the water. Here visitors will be reminded of the poem of 
Alfred de Musset Sur irois marches de marbre rose. The 
lake is called the Piece d''Eaii des Suisses, and was made 
by the Swiss regiment in 1679. Beyond it is an equestrian 
statue by Bernini, executed at Rome, and intended for 
Louis XIV. ; but the king was so dissatisfied with it that 
he cut off its head and replaced it by one by Girardon, 
intended for Marcus Curtius. Beneath this terrace is the 
Orangerie, a stately arcaded building by Mansart, with 
noble orange and pomegranate trees. 



JARDIN DU ROI 



93 



"The beauty and number of the orange trees and other 
plants kept there, cannot be expressed. There are some of the 
trees which have resisted the attacks of a hundred winters." — 
La Fontaine y ''^ Amour de Psyche et Cupidon." 

It was in the Orangerie that Madame, mother of the 
Regent, was walking one day — thinking herself alone — 
singing the Lutheran canticles of her youth, when a painter 
(a refugee) at work there, flung himself at her feet, saying, 
" Est-il possible, madame, que vous vous souvenez encore 
de nos Psaumes ? " 

From the Parterre du Nord, the Ailee d^Eau, formed 
by Claude Perrault, leads to the immense Bassin de Nep- 
tune. Louis XV. used to watch the progress of its deco- 
rations, attended by his dogs — Gredinet, Charlotte, and 
Petite Fille,! — whilst Madame du Barry walked in the 
Allee d'Eau, followed by her little negro Zamore. The 
Bassin de Neptune is the great attraction at the time of 
the grafides eaux. 

The great central Allee du Tapis Vert runs between 
bosquets adorned by statues and fountains. Of the bos- 
quets on the left, that nearest the palace is the Bosquet de 
la Cascade^ or Salle de Bal, where the Grand Dauphin used 
to give his hunting dinners. 

The neighboring Bosquet de la Reine is that where Car- 
dinal Rohan mistook Mile Oliva for Marie Antoinette. 

The Allee d^Automne and the Quinconce du Midi (where 
bands play in summer on Sundays and Thursdays from 3 
to 4.30) lead to the yardin du Roi (open after May i 
from 2 P.M.), formed by Louis XVIIL The neighboring 
Bosquet de la Colonnade owes its architectural designs to 
Hardouin Mansart. 

At the end of the Allee du Tapis Vert is the vast 

* Familiar to us from the admirable paintings of Oudry in the Louvre. 



94 J^A YS NEAR PARIS 

Bassin d^Apollon, decorated by a figure of the god in his 
chariot (designed by Lebrun), who throws up magnificent 
jets of water on the days when the fountains play. The 
Grand Canal, which opens from this basin, was covered 
with boats in the time of Louis XIV. 

Amongst the bosquets on the north, we need only espe- 
cially notice, near the Fontaine de Diane, the Bosquet d'Apol- 
lon, adorned by a group of Apollo and the nymphs, by 
Girardon and Regnaudin, one of the many sculptures in 
which Louis XIV. is honored as a divinity. 

This group originally stood in the Grotte de Thetis, 

destroyed when the north wing of the palace was built. It 

is described by La Fontaine : — 

" Ce Dieu, se reposant sous ces voutes humides, 
Est assis au milieu d'un choeur de Nereides ; 
Toutes sont des Venus, de qui I'air gracieux 
N'entre point dans son coeur et s'arrete a ses yeux ; 
II n'aime que Thetis,^ et Thetis les surpasse." 

The great difficulty in erecting the gardens of Ver- 
sailles arose from the want of water, eventually overcome 
by bringing it {les eaux hautes) from Trappes, and (les 
eaux basses) from the plain of Saclay. It was at one time 
attempted to divert the whole river Eure, by an aqueduct 
from Maintenon, to the use of Versailles. 

" Nothing has pleased me so much as what you tell me of the 
great beauty that is to appear at Versailles, fresh, pure, and natu- 
ral, and is to efface all other beauties. I assure you I was jeal- 
ous, and expected some new beauty to arrive and be presented 
at the court. I find, all at once, that it is a river which has been 
led from its path, precieuse as it is, by an army of forty thousand 
men ; no fewer were required to make its bed. It seems it is a 
present that Mme de Maintenon makes to the king, of the thing 
which he desires most in the world." — Mme de S^vigni, 1684. 

* Marie Th^rfese. 



LE GRAND TRIANON 95 

The Trianons may be reached in half an hour from the 
railway station, but the distance is considerable, and a car- 
riage very desirable considering all the walking inside the 
palaces to be accomplished. Carriages take the straight 
avenue from the Bassin de Neptune. The pleasantest way 
for foot-passengers is to follow the gardens of Versailles as 
far as the Bassin d'Apollon, and then turn to the right. 
At the end of the right branch of the grand canal, stair- 
cases lead to the park of the Grand Trianon j but these 
staircases are railed in, and it is necessary to make a 
detour to the Grille de la Grande Entree^ whence an ave- 
nue leads directly to the Grand Trianon, while the Petit 
Trianon lies immediately to the right, behind the buildings 
of the Concierge and Corps de Garde. 

The Trianons are open daily, but the apartments cannot be 
visited without a guide. Salle des Voitures (entered from the 
esplanade before the Grand Trianon) is only open on Sundays 
and Thursdays. 

The original palace of the Grand Trianon was a little 
chateau built by Louis XIV. in 1670, as a refuge from the 
fatigues of the Court, on land bought from the monks of 
St. Genevieve, and belonging to the parish of Trianon. 
But in 1687 the humble chateau was pulled down, and the 
present palace erected by Mansart in its place. 

"The king, who liked building, and had cast ofif his mis- 
tresses, had pulled down the little porcelain Trianon he had made 
for Mme de Montespan, and was rebuilding it in the form it still 
retains. Louvois was superintendent of the buildings. The 
king, who had an extremely accurate eye, perceived that one win- 
dow was a trifle narrower than the others. He showed it to 
Louvois to be altered, which, as it w^as not finished, was easy to 
do ; Louvois maintained the window was all right. The king 
insisted then and next day, too, but Louvois, pig-headed and in- 
flated with his authority, would not yield. 

"The next day the king saw Le Notre in the gallery. Al- 
though his trade was with gardens rather than houses, the king 



96 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

consulted him on the matter. He asked him if he had been to 
Trianon. Le Notre replied that he had not. The king ordered him 
to go. On the morrow he saw Le Notre again ; same question, 
same answer. The king comprehended the reason of all this, 
and, a little annoyed, commanded him to be there that afternoon 
at a given time. Le Notre did not dare to disobey this time. The 
king arrived, and Louvois being present, they returned to the sub- 
ject of the window which Louvois obstinately said was as broad 
as the rest. The king wished Le Notre to measure it, for he 
knew that, upright and true, he would say openly what he found. 
Louvois, piqued, grew angry. The king, no less so, let him say 
his say. Le Notre did not stir. At last the king made him go, 
Louvois still grumbling and maintaining his assertion with au- 
dacity and little measure. Le Notre measured the window and 
said that the king was right by several inches, Louvois still 
wished to argue, but the king silenced him, commanding him to 
have the window altered at once, and, contrary to his custom, 
abusing him roundly. 

" What annoyed Louvois most, was that this scene took place 
not only before all the officers of the buildings, but in presence 
of all who followed the king in his promenades, nobles, courtiers, 
officers of the guard and others, even the valets, because the 
building was just rising, all were on a level, a few steps off, and 
everything was open and everybody in attendance everywhere. 
The dressing given to Louvois was smart and long, with reflections 
on the fault of this window, which, if unnoticed, might have 
spoiled all the fa5ade and compelled it to be rebuilt. 

" Louvois, not accustomed to such treatment, returned home 
in fury and like a man in despair. Saint Pouenge, and his con- 
stant familiars, were frightened, and, in their disquietude, sought 
to learn what had happened. At last 'he told them, said he was 
lost, and that for a few inches the king forgot all his services 
which had led to so many conquests ; but he would arrange it, 
he would bring about a war that would force him to be employed 
and quit the trowel. Then he burst out in reproaches and fury. 

" He kept his word. He caused a war to grow out of the 
affair of the double election in Cologne, of the Prince of Bavaria 
and Cardinal Furstemberg, and confirmed it by carrying the 
flames into the Palatinate." — St. Simon, '' Me'moires,'' 1709. 

Louis XIV. constantly visited the Grand Trianon, with 
which for many years he was much delighteci. 



LE GRAND TRIANON 



97 



"The loth July, 1699, Louis XIV. took his stand on the ter- 
race of Trianon, looking on the canal, and watched the embarka- 
tion of Monseigneur, Mme the Duchesse de Bourgogne, and all 
the princesses. After supper, Monseigneur and the Duchesse de 
Bourgogne walked till two o'clock in the morning in the gardens, 
and then Monseigneur went to bed. The Duchesse de Bourgogne 
entered a gondola with some of her ladies, and Madame la Du- 
chesse in another, and remained on the water till sunrise. Then 
Madame la Duchesse went to bed, but the Duchesse de Bour- 
gogne watched till Mme de Maintenon left for Saint-Cyr. She 
saw her mount her carriage at half-past seven, and then she went 
to her bed." — Dangeau, ^^ Memoir es'^ 

But, after 1700, Louis XIV. never slept at Trianon, 
and, weary of his plaything here, turned all his attention 
to Marly. Under Louis XV., however, the palace was 
again frequently inhabited. 

"At first a house of porcelain for a lunch, then enlarged to 
sleep in, finally a palace of marble and porphyr}^ with delightful 
gardens." — St. Simon. 

Being entirely on one floor, the Grand Trianon con- 
tinued to be a most uncomfortable residence, till subterra- 
nean passages for service were added under Louis Philippe, 
who made great use of the palace. 

The buildings are without character or distinction. 
Visitors have to wait in the vestibule till a large party is 
formed, and are then hurried full speed round the rooms, 
without being allowed to linger for an instant. Amongst 
the chambers thus scampered through are the Salon des 
Glaces, which was used for the council of ministers under 
Louis Philippe, and is furnished a P Empire; the Bedroom 
of Louis XIV.., afterwards used by the Grand Dauphin, 
Josephine, and Louis Philippe ; the Study of Queen Marie 
Amelie; the Salon de Familleoi the time of Louis Philippe ; 
the Antechamber of Louis XIV.., containing the extraordi- 
nary picture by Mignard^ representing him as the sun — • 



98 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



" le roi soleil " ; the Gallery, containing a group of sculpt- 
ure by Vela, given by the ladies of Milan to the Empress 
Euge'nie after the Italian campaign ; the Salon Circulaire ; 
the Salle de Billard, with portraits of Louis XV. and Marie 
Leczinska by Vanloo ; the Salle de Malachite, with portraits 
of Louis XIV. and Louis XV., the Grand Dauphin and 
Louis XVI., the Due de Bourbon and Due d'Enghien ; 
and the rooms prepared by Louis Philippe for the visit of 
Victoria of England. The chapel, which is not shown, 
was built by Louis Philippe, and his daughter Marie was 
married there to Duke Alexander of Wurtemberg. 

On emerging from the Grand Trianon, we should turn 
to the left. A door on the left of the avenue is the en- 
trance to the Musee des Voitures — a blaze of crimson and 
gold — containing — 

I. The gorgeous coronation carriage of Charles X., built 1825, 
and used at the baptism of the Prince Imperial. 2. The carriage 
built 1821 for the baptism of the Comte de Chambord, and used 
for the marriage of Napoleon III. 3. La Topaze, built iSio for 
the marriage of Napoleon I. and Marie Louise. 4. La Turquoise, 
built with (5) La Victoire and (6) La Brillante, for the coronation 
of Napoleon I. 7. L'Opale, which took Josephine to Malmaison 
after her divorce. Two Chaises a Porteurs belonged respectively 
to Mme de Maintenon and Mme du Barry. Of the four sledges, 
one, formed like a shell, belonged to Mme de Maintenon, another, 
also like a shell, was built in the time of Louis XV. for Mme du 
Barry, and restored for Marie Antoinette. After the Revolution 
the citizen deputies of the people besported themselves, and their 
wives went to market, in the royal carriages.^ 

On reaching the grille of the Cour d^Honneur of the 
Petit Trianon, visitors should enter on the left and ask for 
the concierge for the interior of the palace. But if they 
only wish to visit the gardens, they may enter freely from 
a door out of the court on the right of the grille. 

^ During the seventy-five days of his reign, Ledru RoUin had at his orders 
four carriages, eighteen draught and saddle horses, and ten servants. 



LE PETIT TRIANON 



99 



The Petit Trianon was built by Gabriel for Louis XV. 
in the botanical garden which Louis XIV. had formed at 
the instigation of the Due d'Ayen. It was intended as a 
miniature of the Grand Trianon, as that palace had been a 
miniature of Versailles. The palace was often used by 
Louis XV., who was here first attacked by the smallpox, 
of which he died. Louis XVI. gave it to Marie Antoi- 
nette, who made its gardens, and whose happiest days 
were spent here. Mme Campan describes " Marie Antoi- 




LE PETIT TRIANON. 



nette, vetue en blanc, avec un simple chapeau de paille, 
une legere badine a la main, marchant k pied, suivie d'un 
seul valet, dans les allees qui conduisent au Petit-Trianon." 

" The king gave her the Little Trianon. From that time she 
occupied herself in embellishing the gardens, without permitting 
any alteration in the building or any change in the furniture, 
which had become very shabby, and which remained, in 1789, 
just as it was in the reign of Louis XV. Everything, without 
exception, was preserved, and the queen slept in a faded bed, 
which had served the Comtesse du Barry. The reproach of ex- 
travagance, generally made to the queen, is the most inconceiv- 



lOO ^A YS NEAR PARIS 

able of the popular errors which have been established in the 
world respecting her character. She had the very opposite fault, 
and I can prove that she often carried economy as far as real 
shabbiness, especially in a sovereign. She took a great fancy to 
her retreat at Trianon ; she used to go there alone, followed by a 
footman, but found there attendants to receive her, a concierge 
and his wife, who took the place of a maid, wardrobe-women, 
pages, &c. 

"The queen sometimes renfained an entire month at the 
Little Trianon, and established there all the usages of its etiquette. 
When she entered her saloon, the ladies did not quit the piano 
or their tapestry work, and the men did not interrupt their games 
of billiards or backgammon. There was little accommodation 
in the Trianon. Mme Elizabeth used to accompany the queen 
there, but the ladies of honor and the ladies of the palace had 
no establishment ; according to the invitations sent out by the 
queen, guests came from Versailles at dinner-time. The king 
and the princes went regularly to supper. A robe of white per- 
cale, a gauze fichu, a straw hat, formed the attire of the prin- 
cesses ; the pleasure of running about the buildings of the vil- 
lage, of seeing the cows milked, of fishing in the lake, delighted 
the queen, and every year she displayed more aversion for the 
stately journeys to Marly. 

" The idea of playing comedy, as was done then in almost 
all country houses, followed the idea the queen had had of living 
at Trianon without pageantry. It was agreed that, excepting M, 
the Comte d'Artois, no young man should be admitted into the 
troupe, and that there should be no spectators but the king, Mon- 
sieur, and the princesses not in the play, but that, to animate the 
actors a little, the first boxes might be occupied by the queen's 
readers and maids, with their children and sisters. This formed 
about two score persons." — Mme Campan, ''M^moires.^* 

The Petit Trianon is a very small and very unassuming 
country house. Mme de Maintenon describes it in June 
as "un palais enchante et parfume." Its pretty simple 
rooms are only interesting from their associations. The 
furniture is mostly of the time of Louis XVI. The stone 
stair has a handsome iron balustrade ; the salons are 
panelled in white. Here Marie Antoinette sat to Mme 



LE PETIT TRIANON lOi 

Lebrun for the picture in which she is represented with 
her children. In the Salle a manger is a secretaire given 
to Louis XVI. by the States of Burgundy, and portraits of 
the king and Marie Antoinette. The Cabinet de Travail 
of the queen has a cabinet given to her on her marriage by 
the town of Paris ; in the Salle de Rkeption are four pict- 
ures by Watteau ; the Boudoir has a Sevres bust of the 
queen ; in the Chambre a coucher is the queen's bed, and a 
portrait of the Dauphin by Lebrun. These simple rooms 
are a standing defence of the queen from the false accusa- 
tions brought against her at the Revolution as to her ex- 
travagance in the furnishing of the Petit Trianon. Speak- 
ing of her happy domestic life here, Mme Lebrun says, "I 
do not believe Queen Marie Antoinette ever allowed an 
occasion to pass by without saying an agreeable thing to 
those who had the honor of being near her.'^ 

In the Chapel (only shown on special application) is a 
picture by Vien of St. Louis and Marguerite de Provence 
visiting St. Thibault. In the early years of Bonaparte's 
consulship, the Petit Trianon was turned into an inn. After 
the Restoration, Louis XVIII. often came here for the 
day from Paris, and the gouty king would order himself to 
be carried through the rooms of many associations. 

"The Little Trianon, a caprice of the queen, still filled with 
her games, her idyls, her beauty, her voice, and the pleasures in 
which Louis XVIII. had mingled in his youth, drew tears from 
him. He recalled to mind the spectacles, concerts, and illumi- 
nations, the loves of these delightful gardens, whose trees had 
spread their first shadows over the steps of the young court. He 
discovered in this royal cottage, the whole soul of a princess 
who longed for obscurity to hide her happiness, even to the bed 
of simple muslin of the Queen of France, where she dreamed 
of romantic felicity on the eve of the scaffold." — lamartine. 

In the pleasant gardens, Le Temple d^ Amour ^ surrounded 



102 ^A y^ NEAR PARIS 

by water, contains a statue by Boiichardoti. A little further 
on, several cottages compose the Ha7neau where the queen 
kept her cows and poultry, and near which she planted a 
weeping willow in the year in which she left Versailles for 
ever. The buildings retain the names she gave them — the 
Maison du Metmier, once inhabited by the Comte de Pro- 
vence; the Bergerie ; the Maisoji du Seigneur (Louis 
XVI.) ; the Maison du Bailli (Comte de Polignac) ; Le 
Presbytere (Cardinal de Rohan) ; the Maison du Garde 
(Comte d'Artois). Close to the lake is the Z^//m^ joined 
to the Tour de Marlborough, Near another little lake is 
ihoSa/on de Musique, an octagonal building with four doors 
and windows. 

One of the prettiest fetes given by Marie Antoinette at 
the Petit Trianon was the illumination of the gardens 
during the visit of her brother, the Emperor Joseph II. 

"The art with which the English garden was not illuminated 
but lighted, produced a charming effect ; the terrifies, hidden by 
planks painted green, lighted up all the clumps of shrubs or 
flowers, bringing out their various tints in the most varied and 
agreeable manner ; some hundreds of fagots, kindled in the moat, 
behind the Temple of Love, diffused a brightness which rendered 
that point the most brilliant in the garden. Besides, these even- 
ings had nothing remarkable but what they owed to the good taste 
of the artists ; still it was much talked of. The grounds did not 
permit the admission of a great part of the court ; those not invited 
were discontented, and the people, which pardons only fetes which 
it shares, had a great part in the malevolent exaggerations of the 
cost of this little fete, which was put at such a ridiculous price, 
that the fagots burned in the moat seemed to have required the 
destruction of a whole forest. The queen, hearing these reports, 
desired to know precisely how much wood was burned ; it was 
found that fifteen hundred fagots had sufficed to keep the fire 
burning till four in the morning." — Mine Campan. 

Near the Salon de Musique is the Salle de Spectacle in 



GARDENS OF THE PETIT TRIANON 



103 



which Marie Antoinette acted in the Devin du Village and 
the Barbier de Seville. 

" Madame, the Comtesse de Provence, refused to play in the 
comedy, at the theatre of the Little Trianon ; she said it would 
be a breach of etiquette. 

" ' But I play ; I, myself,' said the queen, ' and the king has 
no objection.' 

" ' Madame,' replied her sister-in-law, * it is here just as Bos- 
suet said it was in the case of theatres, great examples for, good 
reasons against. A princess of Savoy must never shrink from 
great examples in default of good reasons.' 



^%. 




FARM OF MARIE ANTOINETTE. 

" * Brother,' said the queen with animation, calling the Comte 
d'Artois, as it were, to her aid, ' come and take the side of Ma- 
dame, and let us prostrate ourselves before the eternal grandeur 
of the house of Savoy. I thought, up till now, that the house of 
Austria was the first. . . . ' 

" ' Ladies,' broke in the Comte d'Artois, ' I believed just the 
contrary ; I believed, for example, that you had a serious dis- 
pute, but as I see it turning to jest, I think I had better not 
meddle in it.* " — Souvenirs de la Marquise de Cr/qzn. 

The Duchesse d'Abrantes gives us a pretty picture of 
Napoleon I. playing with the one-year-old King of Rome 



T04 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



on the lawn at Trianon, giving him his sword to ride 
upon. 

There is not much of importance in the town of Ver- 
sailles — La Cite du Grand Rot. If the visitor leaves the 
gardens by the gate of the Orangerie at the foot of the 
Escalier des Cent Marches^ he will find himself facing the 
Rue de I'Orangerie, which will lead him to (right) the 
Cathedral of' St. Louis, containing a monument by Pra- 
dier, erected by the town of Versailles to the Due de Berry, 

Returning to the Rue de I'Orangerie, and turning left, 
then following (right) the Rue de Satory to the Rue du 
Vieux- Versailles, we find, on the right, the Rue du Jeu de 
Paume, on the right of which is the entrance of the famous 
Salle du Jeii de Paume. Over the entrance is inscribed : 
" Dans ce Jeu de paume le xx juin mdcclxxxix, les de- 
putes du peuple repousses du lieu ordinaire de leurs 
stances, jurerent de ne point se separer qu'ils n'eussent 
donne une constitution a la France. lis ont tenu parole." 
The famous oath of the Jeu de Paume is engraved under a 
portico behind a statue of Bailly, and round the hall are 
inscribed the names of the 700 who signed the proces verbal 
of the meeting of June 20, 1789. In 1883 the hall was 
turned into a Musee de la Revolution Franfaise. 

" Memories of the monarchy and the aristocracy throb in the 
long streets of the parishes of St. Louis and of Notre Dame, 
where every step recalls a famous name, evokes an original figure 
or revives a strange anecdote. No town in France, except Paris, 
offers, in the same degree, the attraction of a journey in the past, 
and among things of the past." — Barron, "Les environs de Paris." 

The ever-extending limits of the town have now em- 
braced the villa of Clag?iy, which Louis XIV. gave to 
Mme de Montespan. It was thither that she retired, and 
watched the " conversion " of Louis XIV. taking place 



CLAGiSFY 10^ 

under the influence of Mme de Maintenon, Bossuet, and 
Bourdaloue. 

" Mon pere, dit un jour Louis XIV. a Bourdaloue, vous 
devez etre content de moi : Mme de Montespan est a Clagny. 

" — Oui, sire, repondit Bourdaloue ; mais Dieu serait plus 
satisfait si Clagny 6tait ^ soixante-dix lieues de Versailles." — 
Hequety 



III. 

ST. GERMAIN. 

THERE are two ways of reaching St, Germain, i. By rail 
from the Gare St. Lazare. Express, 30 min, ; slow trains, 
50 min. Trainsevery hour, at 25 min. before the hour. {Single — 
First, I f. 65 c. ; second, i f. 35 c. ; Return — First, 3 f. 30 c. ; 
second, 2 f. 70 c.) 2. By the steamer Le Touriste, on the Seine ; 
carriages at the landing-place. 

The train passes — 

5 k. Asnieres. — Its XVIII. c. chateau was transformed 
into a restaurant in 1848. 

1 2 >&. Nanterre — a large village celebrated because St. 
Germain of Auxerre, passing on his way to England with 
St. Loup, Bishop of Troyes [c. 429), remarked the shep- 
herdess Genevieve amongst the crowd assembled to see 
him, and called her to a life of perpetual virginity, con- 
secrating her to the service of God, and giving her a 
copper cross to wear. Here, while she was yet a child, 
her mother is said to have been smitten with blindness, 
for giving her a box on the ear in a passion, but to have 
been restored by her prayers. Then St. Genevieve, hav- 
ing drawn water from the well of Nanterre, bathed her 
mother's eyes with it, upon which she saw as clearly as 
before. From this time the well is said to have preserved 
its miraculous powers, and 20,000 pilgrims come to it 
annually. Queen Anne of Austria, in despair at not be- 



NANTERRE 



107 



coming a mother, came to drink of its waters, and the 
result was Louis XIV. The well is in the Garden of the 
Fresbytery^ which can be entered through the Church of 
St. Maurice^ dating from XIII. c, but spoilt by restorations. 
The chapel of St. Genevieve is covered with ex-votos. A 
monument commemorates Charles Le Roy, " horloger du 
roi," 1 77 1. The Gateaux de Nanterre are celebrated, and 




WELL OF ST. GENEVIEVE, NANTERRE. 

have an immense sale to the pilgrims. The fete of the 
Rosiere^ when the girl who is esteemed the most virtuous 
in the town is led in procession, publicly eulogized, and 
crowned with roses, is still observed every Whit-Monday 
in this church. 

13 y^. Rueil. — A tramway to the village, and to Mal- 
maison and Marly. (See Ch. IV.) 



log DAV^ NEAR PARIS 

\^ k. Chatou — where Soufflot built a chateau, which 

still exists, for Bertin, minister of Louis XV. Hither, to 

another chateau (now destroyed), near the Avenue de 

Croissy, the hated Chancellor Maupeou retired after the 

king's death, and the people sang under his windows — 

" Sur la route de Chatou 
En foule on s'achemine, 
Et c'est pour voir la mine 
Du Chancelier Maupeou 

Sur la rou- 

Sur la rou- 
Sur la route de Chatou." 

At the Revolution, Chatou belonged to the Comte 
d'Artois, and was sold as national property. It was at 
Chatou that Louis XIV. met the exiled Queen Mary 
Beatrice, on her arrival from England. There are pretty 
views upon the river. 

" C'est pres du pont de Chatou 
Qu'on verrait, sans peine, 
Couler ses jours jusqu'au bout 
Au gre de la Seine." 

Desnoyers. 

19 k, Le Vesinet — possessing a race-course, and the 
Asile de Vesinet, a succursale of the Paris hospitals for 
female convalescents. 

In the forest of Vesinet or Echauffour, Louis XIV. 
used to go hawking with black falcons. 

"The king went to fly falcons at the plain of Vesinet. The 
King of England and the Prince of Wales were there, but the 
queen was not visible ; she had been unwell for some days. 
Madame and Mme la Duchesse were on horseback. A black 
hawk was taken, and the king ordered a gratuity of 600 livres to 
the master of the falcons ; he gives as much every year for the 
first black hawk taken in his presence ; otherwise, he gives the 
horse on which he rides and his dressing-gown." — Dangeati, 
'■'Mimoires" 24 April, 1698. 



ST. GERMAIN-EN-LA YE 109 

18 ^. Le Pecq (once Alpicum, then Aupec) — where 
rOrme de Sully near the Seine, is the only tree remaining 
of many planted by the minister of Henry IV. A house 
is inscribed " Pavilion Sully, 1603." 

The Villa of Monte Cristo was built by Alexander Du- 
mas j its gate is inscribed " Monte Cristo, propriete his- 
torique," but it has long since been sold. There is an 
atmospheric railway from Le Pecq up the wooded hill 
to— 

2\k. St. Germain-en-Laye. 

Hotels : du Pavilion He7iri IV., in a delightful situa- 
tion on the terrace, and with a most beautiful view ; du 
Pavilion Louis XIV, Place Pontoise ; de V Ange-Gardien, 
Rue de Paris ; du Prince Galles, Rue de la Paroisse. Res- 
taurant Grenier, close to the station j very dear : many 
other restaurants. 

The first royal chateau of St. Germain was built by 
Louis le Gros in the XII. c, near a monastery belonging 
to St. Germain des Pres at Paris. Both palace and mon- 
astery were burnt by the Black Prince. Charles V. began 
to rebuild the palace in 1367, and it was continued by 
Francois I. Within its walls Henri 11. and Catherine de 
Medicis received the six-year-old Mary Stuart from the 
hands of the Comte de Breze, who had been sent to Scot- 
land to fetch her, as the bride of their son, afterwards Fran- 
cois II. 

The old palace was like a fortress, and Henri IV., 
wishing for a more luxurious residence, built a vast palace 
which occupied the site of the existing terrace. Beneath 
it a beautiful garden, adorned with grottoes, statues, and 
fountains in the Italian style, descended in an amphi- 
theatre as far as the bank of the Seine. The palace and 
garden of Henri IV. have entirely disappeared. The for- 



no DAYS NEAR PARIS 

mer was destroyed by the Comte d'Artois, afterwards 
Charles X. In the older chateau Louis XIV. was born, 
and in the second chateau Louis XIII. died, after a linger- 
ing illness, May 14, 1643. 

" He spoke of death with most Christian resignation ; he was 
so well prepared that at the sight of St. Denis from the windows 
of the new chateau of St. Germain, where he was, so as to be in 
better air than in the old one, he pointed out the road to St. Denis, 
by which his body was to be conveyed ; he indicated a place 
where the road was bad, and advised that it be avoided, for fear 
the carriage should stick in the mud. I heard say, even, that 
during his illness he set to music the De profundis which was 
sung in his room immediately after his death, as is the custom as 
soon as the kings are dead." — Memoires de Mile de Montpensier. 

Here, six years later, Anne of Austria, flying from 
Paris with her two sons, before the rising of the Fronde, 
took refuge with all the royal family except the Duchesse 
de Longueville, bivouacking upon straw in the unfurnished 
palace, whilst waiting for troops to come from the army in 
Flanders. 

" The king often wanted necessaries. The pages of the 
chamber were dismissed because he could not support them. At 
the same time the aunt of Louis XIV., the daughter of Henry the 
Great, wife of the King of England, a fugitive in Paris, was re- 
duced to extreme povert)'^ ; and her daughter, since married to 
the brother of Louis XIV., remained in bed, not being able to 
have a fire, without the people of Paris, drunk with fury, paying 
any attention to the afHictions of so many royal personages." — 
Voltaire, " Steele de Louis XI V.^* 

Louis XIV., who added the five pavilions at the angles 
of the older and still existing palace, at one time thought 
of rebuilding the whole on a much more magnificent scale ; 
one fatal obstacle prevented him : from its lofty site he 
could see St. Denis, his future burial-place ! 

" Saint Germain, unique in combining the marvels of a wide 
view, the immense level of a continuous forest, unique, too, by 



CHA TEA U DE ST. GERMAIN 



m 



the beauty of its trees, soil, situation, the advantages of spring 
water at that elevation, the admirable gardens, heights and ter- 
races which, one above another, conducted one with ease over 
the widest expanse that one could wish, the charms and con- 
venience of the Seine, finally a town quite complete which its po- 
sition itself created, all was abandoned for Versailles, the dullest 
and most ungrateful of all spots." — St. Simon. 

After the English Revolution of 1688^ James II. found 
at St. Germain the generous hospitality of Louis XIV. 




ChAteAU of ST. GERMAIN. 



He lived here for thirteen years as the guest of the King 
of France, wearing always a penitential chain round his 
waist (like James IV. of Scotland) and daily praying God 
to pardon the ingratitude of his daughters, Mary and 
Anne. Here his youngest child Louisa — " la Consola- 
trice" — was born, and here, as the choir in the Chapel 
Royal were singing the anthem, "Lord, remember what is 
come upon us, consider and behold our reproach " (Sep- 



112 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

tember 2, 1701), he sank into the Queen's arms in the 
swoon from which he never recovered. 

" loth Jan., 1689. — The king acted divinely towards their 
English Majesties ; for is it not to be the image of the Almight}^ 
to sustain a king expelled, betrayed and abandoned? The noble 
soul of the king was delighted to play this part. He met the 
queen with all his household and a hundred six-horse coaches. 
When he perceived the carriage of the Prince of Wales, he de- 
scended and embraced him tenderly; then he ran to meet the 
queen, who had left her carriage ; he saluted her, conversed some 
time, placed her at his right in his carriage, presented to her 
Monseigneur and Monsieur, who were also in the carriage, and 
took her to St. Germain, where she was provided like the queen 
with all sorts of requisites, among them being a very rich cash- 
box with 6,000 liv7es d'or. The next day there was the arrival of 
the King of England at St. Germain, where the king waited for 
him ; he was late in arriving ; the king went to the end of the 
guard-room to meet him ; the King of England kissed him 
heartily as if he would have embraced his knees ; the king 
stopped him, and embraced him cordially three or four times. 
They conversed in a low tone for a quarter of an hour ; the king 
presented to him Monseigneur, Monsieur, the Princes of the 
blood, and Cardinal de Bonzi ; he led him to the apartment of 
the queen, who could scarce retain her tears. After a conversa- 
tion of some minutes, his Majesty conducted them to the Prince 
of Wales, where they conversed for some time, and left them 
there, refusing to be escorted back, and saying to the king : ' Here 
is your house ; when I shall come here, you will do me the hon- 
ors, and I shall do them when you come to Versailles.' Next 
day, which was )'esterday, Mme the Dauphiness went there, and 
all the court. I do not know how they regulated the seats of the 
princesses, for they had them arranged as at the court of Spain ; 
and the queen-mother of England was treated as a daughter of 
France. The king sent 10,000 livres d or to the King of England ; 
the latter seemed aged and tired ; the queen was there ; her eyes, 
that had been shedding tears, were beautiful and black ; her com- 
plexion good, but her mouth rather large ; her teeth good, her 
figure good, and she had a deal of wit ; all this rendered her 
pleasing. Here is matter for you to subsist on in public conver- 
sation. 

" 17th January, i68g. The court of England is quite estab- 



CHATEAU DE ST. GERMAIN 



1 13 



lished at St. Germain ; they only wish for 50,000 francs a month, 
and their court is on that footing. The queen pleases much, the 
king converses pleasantly with her ; she has a just, unaffected 
disposition. The king desired Mme the Dauphiness to pay the 
first visit ; she kept saying she zoas sick, and this queen went to 
see her, three days ago, dressed to perfection, a robe of black 
velvet, a handsome skirt, head well dressed ; a figure like the 
Princess de Conti, much majesty ; the king went to receive her at 
her carriage ; she went first to his apartments, where she had a 
fauteuil above the king's ; she was there half an hour, then he 
escorted her to the Dauphiness, who was up ; this caused some 
surprise. The queen said to her, ' Madame, I thought you were 
in bed.' ' Madame,' replied the Dauphiness, ' I resolved to rise 
to receive the honor your Majesty has paid me.' The king left 
them, because the Dauphiness has no faiiteidl in his presence. 
The queen took a good place in a fatitetdl, Madame on her left, 
three oiher fatitetcils for the three little princes ; they talked away 
for half an hour ; there were a good many duchesses, the court 
very large ; at last, she departed ; the king was notified and led 
her to her carriage. He returned and praised the queen highly ; 
he said, ' This is as a queen should be both in mind and body, 
holding her court with dignit)^' He admired her courage in ad- 
versity, and her passion for her husband, for she did, in truth, 
love him. 

"2nd February, i68g. The Queen of England has all the 
look, if God pleased, of preferring to reign in the good king- 
dom of England, where the court is large and noble, than to be at 
St. Germain, although laden with the king's heroic goodness. As 
for the King of England, he seems content ; and it is for that, that 
he is here. 

" 28th Februar)^ i68g. It is a fact that the King of England 
departed this rrforning to go to Ireland, where he is impatiently 
expected ; he will be better there than here. The king gave him 
arms for ten thousand men ; when his English Majesty said fare- 
well, he concluded by saying, with a laugh, that his own personal 
arms were the only things forgotten ; the king gave him his ; our 
heroes of romance could not have shown more gallantr)^ What 
will not this brave and unfortunate king do with arms that 
are always victorious ? He has then the casque and cuirass of 
Renaud, of Amadis, and of all our paladins of fame ; I will not 
say of Hector, for he was unfortunate. There is not a single 
thing that the king did not offer him, generosity and magnanimity 



114 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

can go no farther. . . . The queen has gone into retirement at 
Poissi with her son ; she will be near the king, and all news ; she 
is overcome with grief . . . this princess excites great pity. 

" 2nd March, 1689. The king said to the King of England, at 
parting : ' Monsieur, I am sorry to see you go ; still, I hope never 
to see you again ; but if you do return, be assured that you will 
find me just the same as you leave me.' Could one say anything 
better? The king heaped on him everything, great and small; 
two millions, ships, frigates, troops, officers, ... I come to small 
things, toilet sets, camp beds, services of silver and plate, arms 
for himself, which were the king's own, arms for the troops in 
Ireland ; the arms that go with him are considerable ; lastly, gen- 
erosity, magnificence, and magnanimity have been never so dis- 
played as on this occasion. The king did not wish the queen to 
go to Poissi ; she will see few people ; there will be tears, cries, 
sobs, fainting-fits ; that is easy to understand. He is now where 
he ought to be, he has a good cause, he protects our holy religion, 
he must conquer or die, for he has courage." 

After the king's death his widow, Mary Beatrice, con- 
tinued for seventeen years to reside at St. Germain. Here 
she witnessed the death of her darling daughter, Louisa, 
April 18, 1 7 12; and here, in the thirtieth year of her 
exile, the queen herself j^assed away in the presence of 
thirty Jacobite exiles, of whom she was the best friend and 
protectress. 

" The Queen of England died May 7, after ten or twelve days' 
illness. Her life, from her coming to France till the end of 1688, 
was nothing but a series of misfortunes, heroically borne to the 
end, in submission to God, contempt of the world, penitence, 
prayer, and continual good works, and all the virtues that make 
a saint. With much natural sensibility, she blended much wit 
and natural pride, which she knew how to restrain and keep down 
constantly ; she had the grandest air in the world, at once majestic 
and imposing, and with all was gentle and modest. Her death 
was as saintly as her life. Of the 600,000 livres which the king 
gave her yearly, she saved all to support the poor English who 
filled St. Germain. Her corpse Avas carried, two days afterwards, 
to the Filles de St. Marie of Chaillot, where it was deposited, and 
where she often went into retreat." — St. Simon. 



CHATEAU DE ST. GERMAIN n^ 

"8th May, 1718. Yesterday morning at seven o'clock, the 
good, pious, virtuous Queen of England died at St. Germain. 
She is, for sure, in heaven ; she did not keep a penny for herself, 
she gave all to the poor, and maintained whole families. She 
never in all her life spoke ill of any one, and when they wished to 
tell her anything about this person or that person, she was wont 
to say, ' If it is any ill about any one, I pray you, do not tell it to 
me. I do not like stories that attack reputations.' She bore her 
misfortunes with the greatest patience in the world, not from 
want of spirit ; she was very intelligent, polished and win- 
ning. . . . She always made the highest eulogies on the Princess 
of Wales." — Correspondance de Madame. 

In accordance with the last wish of the queen, the 
Regent d'Orleans allowed her ladies and many other noble 
British emigrants to continue in the palace^ where they and 
their descendants remained till the Revolution drove them 
from their shelter. Till then^ the room in which Mary 
Beatrice died was kept as it was in her life-time — her 
toilette table, with its plate, the gift of Louis XIV., set 
out, with four wax candles ready to light, as if the queen's 
return was constantly expected. 

Under the Reign of Terror the name of St. Germain 
was changed to La Montague du Bel-Air, and it was in- 
tended to turn the chateau into a prison, and to establish 
a guillotine en peri7ianence in its courtyard, when the fall of' 
Robespierre intervened. 

In the interior of the chateau the decorations and 
chimney-pieces are of brick. The rooms are now occupied 
by a Musee des Antiquites JVationales, chiefly of very early 
date, of great interest to archaeologists, and intended as a 
prelude to the collections of the Hotel de Cluny. The 
museum is only open (free) on Sundays, Tuesdays and 
Thursdays, from 11.30 to 5 in summer, and 11 to 4 in 
winter. 

In one of the rooms on the ground floor the primitive 



Il6 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

boats (pirogues) hewn out of the trunk of a tree, and found 
in the Seine and Saone, are especially remarkable. Other 
halls are devoted to casts from the Roman buildings in 
France (at Orange, St. Remy, &c.) ; relics of the Roman 
legions in Gaul ; funeral urns and tombs in brick and 
lead ; bronzes and pottery. On the upper floor are flint 
weapons, fossils found in the caverns of France, and 
models of cromlechs, menhirs, &c. 

Opposite the palace is the parish Church, containing 
(ist chapel, right) the monument erected by Queen Vic- 
toria to James II. of England, " magnus prosperis, ad- 
versis major," and inscribed " Regio cineri pietas regia." 

" Some Irish Jesuits pretended that miracles were wrought at 
his tomb. There was even a talk of his being canonized at 
Rome after his death, the Rome that had abandoned him during 
his life. 

"Few princes were more unfortunate than he ; and history 
gives no example of a house so long unfortunate. The first of 
the Scotch kings, his ancestors, who bore the name of James, 
after being prisoner in England for eighteen years, was, with his 
wife, murdered by his subjects; James II., his son, was killed 
at twenty-nine, in combat with the English ; James III., impris- 
oned by his people, was killed by the insurgents, in battle ; 
James IV. perished in a battle he lost ; Marie Stuart, his grand- 
daughter, driven from her throne, a fugitive in England, after 
languishing eighteen years in prison, was condemned to death 
by English judges, and beheaded ; Charles I., Mar)''s grandson. 
King of Scotland and England, was sold by the Scotch, con- 
demned to death by the English, and died on the scaffold in 
public ; James, his son, seventh of the name, and second of 
England, of whom we are speaking, was driven from the three 
kingdoms, and, as a climax of misfortune, the legitimacy of his 
son was disputed. This son attempted to mount the throne of 
his fathers, only to cause his friends to die by the executioner's 
hands ; and we have seen the prince, Charles Edward, in vain 
uniting the virtues of his fathers and the courage of John So- 
bieski, his maternal ancestor, perform exploits and meet mis- 
fortunes most incredible. If anything justifies those who believe 



TERRACE OP ST. GERM A W 



fiy 



in a fatality which nothing can escape, it is this unbroken series 
of misfortunes that persecutes the house of Stuart for over three 
hundred years." — Voltaire, " Siecle de Louis XIV." 

Soon after the death of James II. Mme de Maintenon 
wrote to Mme de Perou : — 

" I have not yet been able to get any relics of the King of 
England ; the queen was in her bed, out of condition to look for 
any. When the body of this sainted king was opened, the guards 
dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood, and touched his body 
with their rosaries, I reverence God's dispensation ; he per- 
mitted this prince to be contemned in life in order to make him 
feel humiliation, and he glorifies him when he can no longer 
misuse glory." 

Passing in front of the palace, by the gardens planned 
by Lenotre, we reach the Terrace, constructed by Lenotre 
in 1676, and one of the finest promenades in Europe. 
The view is most beautiful over the windings of the Seine 
and the rich green plain : on the right are the heights of 
Marly and Louveciennes ; on the left the hills of Mont- 
morency, and Mont Valerien and Montmartre in the dis- 
tance ; above Vesinet, the cathedral of St. Denis is visible 
— "ce doigt silencieux leve vers le ciel." James II. de- 
clared that the view from the terrace of St. Germain re- 
minded him of that from Richmond, and he used to walk 
here daily, leaning upon the arm of Mary Beatrice. The 
terrace extends from the Pavilion Henri IV. — which was 
the chapel of Henri IV. 's palace, and in which Louis XIV. 
was baptized — to the Grille Royale, leading to the forest. 

A number of drives and straight alleys pierce the forest 
of St. Germain, which is sandy, and, for the most part, 
beautiless. The Chateau du Val to the right of the Grille 
Royale, built at enormous cost by Mansart for Louis XIV., 
on the site of a pavilion of Henri IV., is now the property 
of M. Fould. The Pavilion de la Muette was built by 



Ii8 DAYS MEAR PARIS 

Louis XIV. and Louis XVI. on the ruins of a chateau of 
Francois I. Les Loges are a succursale to the college for 
the daughters of members of the Legion of Honor at St. 
Denis. Near this was a hermitage to which one of Henri 
IV. 's courtiers retired under Louis XIII., with a chapel 
dedicated to St. Fiacre. The pilgrimage to this chapel 
has given rise to the annual Fete des Loges, celebrated on 
the first Sunday after the day of St. Fiacre (August 30) — 
the most popular and crowded of all fetes in the neighbor- 
hood of Paris. Le dime des Loges is one of the finest oaks 
in France. 

In the neighborhood of St. Germain are (3 k. ) Marcil 
Marly, which has pleasant views, and (4>^.) Chambourcy, 
supposed to possess the relics of St. Clotilde, wife of Clo- 
vis, whose fete, July 3, attracts great crowds. It is a pleas- 
ant drive of 13 ^. from St. Germain to Versailles. Public 
carriages leave at 10.30, 2.30, and 7.30, passing through 
Rocquencourty where M. Fould has a chateau. 



IV. 

RUEIL, MALMAISON, AND MARLY. 

IT is only a pleasant afternoon's drive through the Bois de 
Boulogne to Rueil and Malmaison. If Marly be visited on 
the same day, it will be better to take a ticket from the Gare St. 
Lazare to Rueil Ville, or tickets can be taken direct to Marly. 



12, k. Rueil. Below the station carriages are waiting on 
a tramway to take passengers to — 

i^k. Rueil Ville. This large village was of no impor- 
tance till Cardinal de Richelieu built here a chateau like a 
fortress, whither he often retired, and where he condemned 
the Mare'chal de Marillac, convicted of public peculation, 
to be executed in the Place de Greve. Pere Joseph died 
here, December i8, 1638, when Richelieu said, "Je perds 
ma consolation et mon secours, mon confident et mon 
ami." The cardinal bequeathed his chateau de Rueil to 
his niece, the Duchesse d'Aiguillon, who made it so 
attractive that Louis XIV. coveted it and commanded 
Colbert to ask her to sell it to him. She proudly replied : — 

"I can never testify my obedience on an occasion which 
marks more my infinite respect for the wishes of his Majesty 
than in the matter in question, having never thought of selling 
Rueil, nor having ever thought it would be sold. I confess that it 
is dear to me for many considerations ; the excessive expenses I 
have incurred there evidence the attachment and affection I have 
always had for it ; but the sacrifice that I shall make will be the 



120 DAYS NEAR PAkl^ 

greater ; I hope that, presented by your hands, you will cause its 
merit to be felt. 

"The king is master ; and he who gave me Rueil taught so 
well to all France the obedience she owes to him, that his Majesty 
ought not to doubt of mine." 

Louis XIV., however, found Rueil too small, and 
turned to the building of Versailles, only sending Lenotre 
to study the beautiful gardens of Richelieu. The grounds 
of Rueil were cut up by the heirs of the Duchesse 
d'Aiguillon, and the chateau was destroyed in the Rev- 
olution. 

On descending from the tramway it is only two minutes' 
walk (right, then left) through the court of the Hotel de 
Ville to the Church of Rueil ^ rebuilt by Napoleon III. To 
the right of the altar is the tomb of Josephine (by Gilet 
and Dubuc), bearing the figure of the empress (by Car- 
tellier), dressed as in the coronation picture of David, 
kneeling at a prie-dieu, and inscribed : " A Jose'phine, 
Eugene et Hortense, 1825." Close by is the simple 
sarcophagus tomb of Count Tascher de la Pagerie, gov- 
ernor of Martinique, uncle of the Empress. On the left of 
the altar is the tomb erected by Napoleon III. to his 
mother, with the figure of Queen Hortense (by Bartolini) 
kneeling, and crowned by an angel. ^ She died October 5, 
1837, at Arenenberg on the lake of Constance, desiring 
with her last breath to be buried by her mother at Rueil. 
The tomb is inscribed : " A la Reine Hortense, le Prince 
Louis Bonaparte." 

The street opposite the church door leads from Rueil 
to Malmaison, passing, to the left, the property called 
Boispreau, which, under the first empire, belonged to an 
old maiden lady, who refused to sell it to Josephine, in 

* The vault beneath may be seen on application at 15 Place de I'Eglise. 



LA MALM A I SON 12 f 

spite of her entreaties. On September 23, 1809, the 
emperor wrote to the empress at Malmaison : — 

" I have received your letter of the i6th ; I see you are well. 
The old maid's house is worth only 120,000 francs. They will 
never get more for it. Still, I leave you mistress to do as you 
like, since it amuses you ; but, once bought, do not pull it down 
to make some rocks. Adieu, mon aniie. — Napoleon." 

Taking the convenient tram again, which runs direct 
along the road, we may descend at — 

\^k. La Malmaison. — The station is opposite a short 
avenue, at the end of which, on the right, is the principal 
entrance to Malmaison. A little higher up the road (right) 
is a gate leading to the park and gardens, freely open to 
the public, and being sold (1887) in lots by the State. 
There is melancholy charm in the old house of many recol- 
lections—grim, empty, and desolate ; approached on this 
side by a bridge over the dry moat. A short distance off 
(rather to the left, as you look from the house) is a very 
pretty little temple— the Temple of Love — with a front of 
columns of red Givet marble brought from the chateau of 
Richelieu, and a clear stream bursting from the rocks 
beneath it. 

Malmaison is supposed to derive its name from having 
been inhabited in the XI. c. by the Norman brigand Odon, 
and afterwards by evil spirits, exorcised by the monks of 
St. Denis. Josephine bought the villa with its gardens, 
which had been much praised by Delille, from M. Lecou- 
teulx de Canteleu for 160,000 francs. The Duchesse 
d'Abrantes describes the life here under the Consulate — 

"The life led at Malmaison resembled the life led in all 
country houses where much company is assembled. In the morn- 
ing we rise when we like, and, till eleven, the hour fixed for 
breakfast, one is one's own mistress. At eleven we meet in a 
little, very low saloon, looking on the court, on the first floor, and 



122 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

in the right wing ; no men are present, just as at breakfast in 
Paris, unless Joseph or perhaps Louis or Fesch, or some of the 
family. The exceptions were so rare that I do not recall ever 
having seen a man at the breakfasts at Malmaison. After break- 
fast, conversation, or reading the papers, some one was always 
coming from Paris for an audience, for Mme Bonaparte already 
granted audience. 

" The first consul was never seen before dinner. He came 
down at five or six in the morning into his private cabinet ; he 
worked with Bourrienne, or the ministers, generals, or councillors 
of state ; and this continued till the dinner hour, which always 
took place at six o'clock. It was rare that somebody was not 
invited. 

"On Wednesdays he gave a dinner, almost of ceremony, at 
Malmaison. The second consul was present, the councillors of 
state, the ministers, some generals particularly esteemed, and 
women of unsoiled reputation. When it was fine, the first consul 
would order dinner to be served in the park. The table was 
placed on the left of the lawn before the chateau, a little in ad- 
vance of the right avenue. A short time was spent at table ; the 
first consul thought the dinner long if it lasted a half-hour. 

"When he was in good humor, the weather fine, and he had 
at his disposition some minutes, snatched from the constant labor 
which was then killing him, he played with us at * prisoner's bars.' 
He cheated as he did at reversis ; he knocked us down, he came 
on us without crj^ing, 'bar,' cheating in a way to provoke merry 
laughter. On these occasions. Napoleon took his coat off, and 
ran like a hare, or rather like the gazelle he made eat all the snufF 
in his box, telling it to run at us, and the accursed beast tore our 
gowns and pretty often our legs." — Memoires. 

Josephine retired to Malmaison at the time of her 

divorce, and seldom left it afterwards. 

"Napoleon, moved and disturbed, weeping like them, told 
Josephine's children that their mother was neither repudiated nor 
disgraced, but sacrificed to a State necessity, and recompensed for 
her noble sacrifice by the greatness of her children, and the tender 
friendship of him who had been her husband. . . . The Senatus- 
consultum continued to Josephine the rank of empress, and as- 
signed her a revenue of two millions, with a free gift of the cha- 
teaux of Navarre and Malmaison, and numerous precious objects." 
• — Thiers, ^' L' Empire." 



LA MALMAlSON 



123 



In 1 8 14, the unhappy Josephine, whose heart was al- 
ways with Napoleon, was forced to receive a visit from the 
allied sovereigns at Malmaison, and died of a chill which 
she caught in doing the honors of her grounds to the Em- 
peror Alexander on May 26, by a water excursion on the 
pool of Cucufa. After his return from Elba, Napoleon re- 
visited the place. 

" He felt the need of revisiting the modest dwelling where 
he had passed the fairest years of his life, by the side of a wife 




MALMAISON. 



who had, assuredly, faults, but was a true friend ; one of those 
souls that are never met twice, and are forever regretted when 
lost. He obliged Queen Hortense, who had not yet dared to 
enter a spot so full of poignant memories, to accompany him. 
In spite of his crushing preoccupations, he consecrated several 
hours to traversing the little chateau and the gardens, where Jose- 
phine cultivated the flowers she collected from all quarters of the 
globe. In seeing once more these dear and saddening objects, 
he fell into melancholy reveries. 

" Napoleon, while walking in this spot, at once so attractive 
and so distressing, said to Queen Hortense, ' Poor Josephine ! 
by every turn in the walks, I fancy I see her. Her death, the 



f24 BAVS NEAR PARIS 

news of which surprised me at Elba, was one of the keenest sor- 
rows of that fatal year 1814. She had weaknesses beyond doubt, 
but she at least would never have abandoned me ! ' " — Thiers, 
" L' Empire J" 

After the loss of the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon 
once more retired to Mahnaison, then the property of the 
children of Josephine, Eugene and Hortense. There he 
passed June 25, 1815, a day of terrible agitation. 

" At times he demonstrated the necessity, for France and 
himself, of withdrawing his abdication and taking up the sword 
again ; and then he was heard making plans of retirement, and 
arranging for a life of profound solitude and repose." — A de 
Vaulabelle. 

That evening at five o'clock he put on a " costume de 
ville — un habit marron," tenderly embraced Queen Hor- 
tense and the other persons present, gave a long lingering 
look at the house and gardens connected with his happiest 
hours, and left them forever. 

After the second Restoration Prince Eugene sold Mal- 
maison, removing its gallery of pictures to Munich. There 
is now nothing remarkable in the desolate rooms, though 
the " Salle des Marechaux," the bedroom of Josephine, 
and the grand salon (with a chimney-piece given by the 
Pope), are pointed out. In later years the house was for 
some time inhabited by Queen Christina of Spain. It will 
be a source of European regret if at least the building con- 
nected with so many historic souvenirs, and the immediate 
grounds, be not preserved. 

Returning to the tram, we reach — 

\(ik. La jfonchere^ where Louis Bonaparte had a villa. 

17^. Bougival {^Restaurant Pignon ; de Madrid. Hotel 
de r Union). A rapidly increasing village, which, in its 
quieter days, was much frequented by artists of the Corot 
school, who appreciated the peaceful scenery of the Seine. 



MA RL Y-LA-MA CHINE 1 2 5 

The inventor of the Machine de Marly died here in great 
destitution and is buried in the churcli with the inscription : 
^'^Cy gissent honorables personnes, Rennequin Sualem, 
seul inventeur de la machine de Marly, de'cede le 29 juillet, 
1708, age de 64 ans, et dame Marie Nouelle, son epouse, 
decedee le 4 mai, 17 14, agee de 84 ans." The church has 
a stone spire of the XII. c. 

On the Route de Versailles is a monument to three 
natives of Bougival, shot for cutting the telegraph lines of 
Prussian investiture. It is inscribed with the last words of 
one of them : " Je suis Frangais. Je dois tout entreprendre 
contre vous. Si vous me rendez a la liberte, je recommen- 
cerai." 

The park of the neighboring Chateau de Biizenval was 
twice the scene of a bloody conflict between the French 
and Prussians. The painter, Henri Regnault, fell there, 
January 19, 1870. The chateau is a quaint low building, 
with a tower at either end. 

\Afk, is the village of La Celle St. Cloud. Its chateau, 
the central part of which dates from 16 16 (when Joachim 
Saudras added it to a hospice belonging to the abbey of 
St. Germain des Pres), was bought in 1686 by Bachelier, 
first valet de chambre of Louis XIV., with money given him 
by the Due de la Rochefoucauld, on condition of his having 
it to inhabit whenever he pleased. The duke received 
Louis XIV. and Mme de Maintenon there in 1695. In 
1748 Mme de Pompadour bought the chateau, but sold it 
two years after. The Chdtaignerie is reached by the ave- 
nue which opens on the left at the entrance of the village. 

\Zk. Marly-la-Machine. — The famous Machine de Marly 
which lifted the waters of the Seine 643 metres, to the height 
of the Aqueduct de Marly, by which they were carried to 
Versailles, passed for a long time as a chef-d'oeuvre of mech- 



126 DA YS NEAR PARIS 

anism. It was invented by Rennequin Sualem, carpenter 
of Liege, but was executed under the inspection of the 
Chevalier Deville, who appropriated both the honor and the 
reward. Since 1826 the original machine has been re- 
placed by another of 64-horse power, worked by steam. 
It is fifteen minutes' walk from the machine to the first 
arches of the Aqueduct. 

\^k. Port-Marly. — Here carriages are changed for the 
ascent of the hill. The tram passes under the railway 
viaduct to — 

2\\k. Marly-k-Roi^ called Marlacum in the charters of 
King Thierry, 678. The tram stops close to the Abreuvoir^ 
a large artificial tank, surrounded by masonry for receiving 
the surplus water fi-om the fountains in the palace gardens, 
of which it is now the only remnant. Ascending the avenue 
on the right, we shall find a road at the top which will lead 
us, to the left, through delightful woods to the site of the 
palace. Nothing remains but the walls supporting the 
wooded terrace. It is difficult to realize the place as it 
was, for the quincunces of limes which stood between the 
pavilions on either side the steep avenue leading to the royal 
residence, formerly clipped and kept close, are now huge 
trees, marking still the design of the grounds, but obscuring 
the views, and, by their great growth, making the main 
avenue very narrow. Here, seated under the trees, visitors 
may like to read the story of the place. 

"The king, tired of splendor and bustle, persuaded himself 
that he should like something little and solitary. He searched 
all around Versailles for some place to satisfy this new taste. 
He examined several neighborhoods, he traversed the hills near 
St. Germain, and the vast plain which is at the bottom, where 
the Seine winds and bathes the feet of so man)'^ towns and so 
many treasures in quitting Paris. He was pressed to fix himself 
at Lucienne, where Cavoye afterwards had a house, the view 



MARL Y-LE-ROI 



127 



from which is enchanting ; but he replied that that fine situation 
would ruin him, and that, as he wished to go to no expense, so 
also he wished a situation which would not urge him to any. 
He found, behind Lucienne, a deep, narrow valley, completely 
shut in, inaccessible from its swamps and with no view, hills on 
all sides, and a wretched village, called Marly, on one of them. 
This closeness of the valle)', without a view or the means of hav- 
ing any, was all its merit. He fancied he was choosing a minister, 
a favorite, a general. It was a great work to drain this sewer of 
all the neighborhood, which threw its garbage there, and to bring 
soil thither. 

"At first, it was only for sleeping in, three nights, from 
Wednesday to Saturday, two or three times in the )'ear, with a 
dozen or so of courtiers to fill the most indispensable posts. 

" B); degrees the hermitage was augmented, the hills cut 
down to give room for building, and the one at the end pared 
away to give at least a kind of imperfect view. In fine, with 
buildings, gardens, waterworks, aqueducts, with all that is so 
curious and so well known under the name of Marly ; with a 
park, an ornamental and enclosed forest, with statues and pre- 
cious furniture, Marl)' became what we see. With whole forests, 
well grown and branching, which were brought in the form of 
huge trees, from Compiegne and further incessantly, three- 
fourths of which died and were immediately replaced ; with vast 
spaces of dense woods and obscure alleys, suddenly changing 
into immense pieces of water with gondolas on their bosom, then 
changed again into forests, impervious to light as soon as they 
were planted (I speak of what I saw in six weeks) ; with basins, 
changed a hundred times, and cascades similarly, with figures in 
succession all different ; with carp stews, adorned with the most 
exquisite gilding and painting, barely finished, changed and re- 
fashioned by the same masters an infinity of times ; with, in addi- 
tion, that prodigious machine, just alluded to, with its immense 
aqueducts, monstrous conduits and reservoirs, devoted solely 
to Marly, without supplying water to Versailles — it may be almost 
said that Versailles, as it stands, did not cost as much as Marl)^ 
"If there are added the expenses of the ceaseless journeys, 
which became, at last, at least equal to a residence at Versailles, 
and often as thronged, when, quite at the end of his life, this be- 
came the most customary residence, we will not say too much, 
if we estimate Marly by milliards. Such was the fortune of a 
den of snakes and carrion crows, of toads and frogs, chosen for 



128 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

no other reason than to spend money there. Such was the bad 
taste of the king in everything, and his superb delight in forcing 
nature, which neither the most oppressive war nor devotion 
could diminish." — St, Simon, '' Mdmoires" 

St. Simon exaggerates the extravagance of Louis XVI. 
at Marly, who spent there four and a half million francs 
between 1679 ^^'^^ 1690, and probably as mucli or more 
between 1690 and 17 15:, perhaps in all ten or twelve mil- 
lions, which would represent fifty million francs at the 
present time. Nevertheless the expense of the ajmisemenfs 
of Louis XIV. greatly exceeded the whole revenue of 
Henri IV. and those of the early years of Louis XIII. 

" Louis chose the valley of Marly to build a hermitage there. 
Marly Avas to be for him a shelter where he could be freed from 
public life by a free private life. But Louis could no longer be 
simple ; the pomp of his past followed him everywhere in spite 
of him, and the hermitage became a palace, in truth, a palace 
silent and concealed. Mansart built under the shades of Marly 
a splendid pavilion for the king, with twelve lesser pavilions for 
the courtiers admitted to the favor of following Louis into this 
privileged retreat ; again there was the symbolic mythology of 
Versailles, the royal sun reappeared surrounded by the twelve 
signs of the Zodiac. Abysses of verdure, kept fresh by really 
unrivalled cascades, and fountains without number enveloped 
this fair)' bower. A veiled sumptuousness reigned there, a sort 
of chiaro-oscuro in harmony with the secret, which, after the death 
of the queen (July 30, 1683), the court soon suspected between 
the king and Mme de Maintenon. Marly and Maintenon are 
two names inseparable in our memory ; these two names recall to 
us, as it were, a half-light where one speaks in half-tones ; some- 
thing discreet, reposeful, cautious, a long twilight after the flam- 
ing splendor of the first years of the great reign." — H. Martin^ 
" Hist, de France y 

From the central pavilion in which the flattery of Man- 
sart placed him as the sun, Louis XIV. emerged every 
morning to visit the occupiers of the twelve smaller pavil- 
ions (Les Pavilions des Seigneurs), the constellations, his 



PALACE OF MARLY 12g 

courtiers, who came out to meet him and swelled his train. 
These pavilions, arranged on each side of the gardens, 
stood in double avenues of clipped lime-trees looking upon 
the garden and its fountains, and leading up to the palace. 
The device of the sun was carried out in the palace itself, 
where all the smaller apartments circled round the grand 
salon, the king and queen having apartments to the back, 
the dauphin and dauphine to the front, each apartment 
consisting of an anteroom, bedroom, and sitting-room, 
and each set being connected with one of the four square 
saloons, which opened upon the great octagonal hall, of 
which four faces were occupied by chimney-pieces and 
four by the doors of the smaller saloons. The central hall 
occupied the whole height of the edifice, and was lighted 
from the upper story. 

The great ambition of every courtier was " etre des 
Marlys," and all curried favor with the king by asking to 
accompany him on his weekly '^voyages de Marly." 

"This was called presenting one's self for Marly. The men 
asked on the morning of the day, saying to the king merely, 
' Sire, Marly ! ' In his last years the king grew tired of this. A 
page in blue in the galler}'- inscribed the names of those who asked, 
and put down their names. The ladies always continued to pre- 
sent themselves. 

" At Marly, if the king was in residence, all who went there 
had full liberty to follow him to the gardens, to join him or to 
leave him ; in one word, do just as they liked, 

"All the ladies who went had the honor of eating, evening 
and morning, at the same hour in the same little saloon that 
separated the apartments of the king from those of Mme de 
Maintenon. The king kept a table where all the sons of France 
and the princesses of the blood were placed, except the Duke de 
Berry, the Duke of Orleans and the Princess de Conti, who were 
always placed at the table of Monseigneur, even when he was 
hunting. There was a third smaller table where sometimes one, 
sometirnes others were placed, and all three were round, with 



130 J^A YS NEAR PARIS 

liberty for all to sit at whichever seemed good to them. The 
princesses of the blood were placed, right and left, according to 
rank ; the duchesses and other princesses as they happened, but 
next to the princesses of the blood without any mingling of any 
others ; then the non-titled ladies completed the round of the 
table, and Mme de Maintenon among them about the middle ; 

but for a long time she had not eaten there At the end of 

dinner the king went to the rooms of Mme de Maintenon, and 
sat in z. fauteuil near her in a niche formed by a sofa closed in on 
three sides, the princesses of the blood on stools near them, and, 
at a distance, some privileged ladies. There were several tables 
of tea and coffee, and any who liked took some. The king re- 
mained a longer or shorter time, according as the conversation of 
the princesses amused him, or business demanded ; then he 
passed before all these ladies, and went to his own rooms, and 
all left except some friends of Mme de Maintenon. After dinner 
no one entered where the king and Mme de Maintenon were ex- 
cept the Duchess de Bourgogne, and the minister who came on 
business. The door was closed, and the ladies in the other room 
only saw the king passing in to supper, and followed him ; after 
supper, in his rooms, the princesses, just as at Versailles." — St. 
Sifnon, 1707. 

The Court used to arrive at Marly on a Wednesday 
and leave it on a Saturday ; this was an invariable rule. 
The king always passed his Sundays at Versailles, which 
was his parish. 

"Louis XIV. had established for Marly a kind of etiquette 
different from that of Versailles, but still more wearisome. Cards 
and supper took place every day, and demanded much dressing ; 
Sundays and fete days the waters played, and the people were 
admitted into the garden, and there was always as many people 
as at the fetes of St. Cloud. 

"The ages have their colors, and assuredly Marly still more 
than Versailles carried one back to that of Louis XIV. ; all 
seemed to be constructed by the magic power of a fairy wand. 

" The palace and the gardens of this house of pleasure, could 
also be compared to the theatrical setting of the fifth act of an 
opera. There no longer exists the slightest trace of so much 
magnificence ; the revolutionary demolishers tore from the bosom 



LIFE AT MARLY 



131 



of the earth even the cast-iron pipes that brought the waters. 
Perhaps a brief description of this palace and the usages estab- 
lished there by Louis XIV. may be of interest. 

" The garden of Marly, long and very broad, ascended, by an 
imperceptible slope, to the pavilion of the sun, inhabited only by 
the king and his family. The pavilions of the twelve signs of the 
zodiac bordered the two sides of the parterre, and were united by 
charming arbors where the sun's rays could not penetrate. The 
pavilions nearest that of the sun were reserved for princes of the 
blood, or persons invited to stay at Marly ; all the pavilions were 
named after the fresco paintings which covered the walls, and 
had been executed by the most celebrated artists of the age of 
Louis XIV. 

"On the line of the pavilion above were, on the left, the 
Chapel ; on the right, a pavilion, styled La Perspective, which 
masked a large space in which were lodgings destined to persons 
attached to the service of the court, the kitchens and immense 
halls, where more than thirty tables were splendidly served. 

" During half of Louis XV. 's reign, the ladies still wore the 
Marly court dress, so styled by Louis XIV., which differed from 
that adopted at Versailles ; the French robe, with plaits at the 
back and large paniers, took the place of this dress, and was kept 
till the end of the reign of Louis XVI. 

"The diamonds, the feathers, the rouge, the dress em- 
broidered or covered with gold thread, took away the slightest 
appearance of a sojourn in the country ; but the people loved to 
see the pomp of its sovereigns and of a brilliant court pass be- 
neath its groves. 

"After dinner, and before the time for play, the queen and 
princesses, with their ladies, wheeled, by men in the royal livery, 
in carrioles, covered with gold-embroidered canopies, traversed 
the thickets of Marly, where the trees, planted by Louis XIV., 
were of prodigious height ; in many places the height of these 
trees was surpassed by the fountains of the most limpid water ; 
while in others, cascades of white marble, whose waters, smitten 
by some beams of the sun, seemed sheets of silver gauze, con- 
trasted with the obscurity of the thickets. 

" In the evening, to be admitted to \hQ jeii de la reine, it was 
sufficient for any well-dressed man to be named and presented 
by an officer of the court to the usher of the play-room. The 
saloon, very large and octagonal in shape, rose up to the roof in 
the Italian style, and was terminated by a cupola ornamented by 



132 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

balconies, where the ladies not presented could easily gain ad- 
mittance to enjoy the sight of this brilliant gathering. 

"The rich men and heavy players of Paris never missed one 
of the evenings at Marly, and the sums lost and won were always 
considerable, 

"Louis XIV. hated high play, and often displayed temper 
when heavy losses were mentioned. The men had not yet intro- 
duced the fashion of wearing black while not in mourning, and 
the king gave some of his hardest raps to the knights of St. Louis 
thus dressed, who came to risk two or three louis in the hope 
that fortune would favor the pretty duchesses who were glad to 
place them on their cards. 

"Strange contrasts are seen in the midst of the grandeur of 
courts ; to play such great stakes at the queen's faro-table, there 
was required a banker provided with large sums of money, and 
this necessity gave a seat at the table, where etiquette admitted 
only persons of the highest title, not only to M. de Chalabre, who 
was the banker, but also to a simple retired captain of infantry, 
who was his second. A trivial expression was heard very often 
uttered, expressive of the manner in which court was paid to the 
king. The men, who had been presented but not invited to reside 
at Marly, went there just as to Versailles, and then returned to 
Paris, and thus the fashion came up of saying that one had only 
been to Marly en polisson ; and nothing appeared to me more 
singular than to hear a charming marquis reply to one of his 
friends who asked him if he had been in the voyage de Marly : 
' Non, je n'y suis qu'en polisson.* This simply meant, ' I was 
there like all those whose nobility does not date from 1400.' 
What great talents, what men of high merit, who soon, unhappily, 
began to attack the ancient monarchy, were found in the class 
designated by the word polisson ! 

" These ' voyages de Marly ' were very dear for the king. After 
the tables of honor, those of the chaplains, the equerries, the 
stewards, &c., were all so magnificently served, that strangers 
were invited to them, and almost every one who came from Paris 
was supported at the expense of the court." — ^^ M/moires." 

The leading figure at Marly was Mme de Maintenon, 
who occupied the apartments intended for Queen Marie 
Therese, but who led the simplest of lives, bored almost 
to extinction. She used to compare the carp languishing 



MADAME DE MAINTMNON 



133 



in the tanks of Marly to herself — " Comme moi, ils regret- 
tent leur bourbe." 

" Success, entire confidence, rare devotion, omnipotence, 
public and universal adoration, ministers, generals, the highest of 
the royal family, all, in a word, prostrate at her feet ; everything 
well and good by her, and faulty without her. Men, business, 
things, appointments, justice, mercy, religion, all without excep- 
tion, in her hands ; even the king and the fate of his victims. Who 
was this incredible fairy ? how did she rule without a break, ob- 
stacle, or the slightest cloud for more than thirty years — aye, for 
thirty-two? This is the strange phenomenon which has to be 
retraced, and which was one to all Europe." — St. Simon, "J/"/- 
moires" 

" It was principally on points of morals and in questions of re- 
ligion that the influence of Mme de Maintenon was powerful and 
almost irresistible. In this respect she believed she had a mission 
to accomplish ; she regarded herself, in good faith, as chosen by 
Providence to bring Louis XIV. back to continence and piety, 
to guide him in the path of salvation, to sanctify a reign which 
hitherto had been only glorious, to fortify and extend the empire 
of religion and the authority of the Church. It was this which 
was repeated to her incessantly by men clothed with a sacred 
character, whose virtues she admired, who inspired her with 
boundless confidence, and whom she listened to with submissive 
docility. Fenelon wrote to her one day, ' The friendship which 
you have for the king ought to be purified by sorrow ; it is a 
slight thing to have no interest ; every consolation must be re- 
nounced, and the most humiliating things endured. You will 
never become too small beneath your cross, and you will never 
have so much liberty, authority, or power in your words as when 
you shall be humbled and made lowly by renouncing all your 
sensibility.' " — Hequet, " Hist, de Mme de Maintenon." 

At first Mme de Maintenon dined, in the midst of the 
other ladies, in the square salon which separated her apart- 
ment from that of the king ; but soon she had a special 
table, to which a very few other ladies, her intimates, came 
by invitation. 

"Queen in private, as displayed by her tone, her seat and 
place in presence of the king, Monseigneur, Monsieur, the court 



134 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



of England, and of all present, she was a very simple private 
gentlewoman externally, always taking the lowest place. I have 
often seen her at the king's dinners at Marly, eating with him and 
the ladies, and at Fontainebleau, in full dress, with the Queen of 
England, as I have remarked elsewhere, absolutely yielding her 
place and retiring always for titled ladies, even for distinguished 
ladies of quality, never being forced by those of title, but by those 
of ordinary quality, with an air of careful civility, and every- 
where polished, affable, speaking like a person who makes no 
claims or demonstrations, but who was resolved only to consider 
what was about her. 

"Always dressed well, nobly, neatly, tastefully, but very 
•modestl)% and in a style older than her age required. After she 
ceased to appear in public, she wore caps and a black scarf when 
she happened to be seen. 

" She never visited the king but when he was sick, or in the 
mornings when he had taken medicine ; and so, too, with the 
Duchess de Bourgogne ; never otherwise for any duty. 

" In her own rooms with the king, they each sat in a fauteuil, 
a table before each at the corners of the fire-place ; she next the 
bed, the king with his back to the wall on the side of the ante- 
room door, and two stools before the table, one for the minister, 
who came to transact business, the other for his bag. On busi- 
ness days, they were not long together before the minister entered, 
and often a still shorter time after he left. 

" During the transaction of business Mme de Maintenon read 
or did tapestr)'. She heard all that passed between the king and 
the minister, for they spoke loud. She rarely interjected a word, 
still more rarely was it of any consequence. Often the king asked 
her advice. Then she replied with great discretion. Never, or 
almost never, did she seem to lay stress on anything, and still 
seldomer, to take interest in any one, but she was in accord with 
the minister, who did not dare to oppose her in private, or flinch 
in her presence. When some favor or some post was to be 
granted the matter was arranged between them beforehand, and 
this sometimes delayed business without the king or any one 
knowing the reason. 

"About nine o'clock, two lady's maids came and undressed 
Mme de Maintenon ; soon afterwards, her mattre-d'hdtel, and a 
valet de chambre brought her some soup and something light. 
When she had finished supper, her women put her into bed, and 
all this in presence of the king, and the minister (who continued 



MADAME DE MAINTENON 135 

his work, and did not speak any lower), or if no minister were 
there, some ladies with whom she was intimate. All this brought 
it on to ten o'clock, when the king went to supper, and at the 
same time the curtains of Mme de Maintenon were drawn. . . . 
The king went to her bedside, where he remained standing a 
while, wishing her good night, and then went to take his place at 
table. Such was the routine of life in Mme de Maintenon's apart- 
ments. 

" It has been said that Mme de Maintenon was a private gen- 
tlewoman in public ; elsewhere, queen ; sometimes queen even in 
public, as at the promenades of Marly, when out of complaisance 
she joined in them when the king wished to show her something 
newly completed. 

" Queen in private, Mme de Maintenon always had 2l fauteuil, 
and in the most convenient place in her room, in presence of the 
king, all the roj-al family, even in presence of the Queen of Eng- 
land. At most she rose for Monseigneur and Monsieur, because 
they rarely visited her. For no other son of France, their wives, 
or the king's bastards, did she rise, nor for any one, except, a little, 
for ordinary persons with whom she was not intimate, and who 
had obtained an audience, for, polite and modest, she always 
attended to these points. 

' ' What was a perpetual astonishment was the promenades just 
mentioned, which she took, out of excess of complaisance, with 
the king, in the gardens of Marly. He would have been a hun- 
dred times more at his ease with the queen, and shown less gal- 
lantr}^ His respect was most marked, although in the midst of 
the court, and in presence of all the inhabitants, of Marly who 
chose to be there. The king believed himself to be there in pri- 
vate, because he was at Marly. Their carriages went, close side 
by side, for she almost never entered a chariot ; the king alone in 
his, she in a sedan chair. If their suite contained the Dauphiness 
or the Duchesse de Berry, or the king's daughters, they followed 
or surrounded them on foot, or if they entered a chariot with some 
ladies, it was to follow at a distance, never to overtake. Often the 
king walked on foot beside the chair. At every moment he took 
off his hat, and lowered it to speak to Mme de Maintenon or to 
reply to her if she spoke to him, which she did less frequently 
than he, who had always something to say or point out. As she 
feared the air even in the finest and calmest weather, she pushed 
up the glass at the side, every time, with three fingers, and closed 
it immediately. When the chair was set down for her to see the 



136 I>A VS NEAR PARIS 

new fountain, there was the same behavior. At such times, the 
Dauphiness often used to perch on the front pole, and begin a 
conversation, but the front glass always remained closed. At the 
end of the promenade, the king escorted Mme de Maintenon to 
near the chateau, took his leave of her, and continued his prom- 
enade." — St. Simon, "" Mimoires,'' \']\c^. 

In all royal palaces, even at the present day, society is 
probably drearier than anywhere else, but it was never 
duller than at Marly. " On apprend a se taire ^ Marly," 
we find the lively Duchesse d'Orleans writing to her fam- 
ily; "souvent, la plupart du temps meme, on est seize 
ou dix-sept k table, et on n'entend pas un mot." On Feb- 
ruary 5, 1711, "Madame" writes from Marly: — 

"On no side is there any conversation; at Meudon we 
speak under our breath ; Monseigneur talks very little, so does 
the king. I believe the former counts his words, and is resolved 
never to pass a certain number. At St. Cloud no more talk than 
elsewhere. All the ladies have such a dread of saying anything 
that can displease here, and prevent them going to Marly, that 
they only speak of cards and dress, which seems to me tiresome 
enough." 

Mme de Maintenon wrote : — 

" Why cannot I give you all my experience ! Why cannot I 
make you see the ennui that devours the great, and the trouble 
which they have to fill their time ! " — Lettres, iii. 152. 

Marly was the scene of several of the most tragic 
events in the life of Louis XIV. " Tout est mort ici, la 
vie en est otee," wrote the Comtesse de Caylus (niece of 
Mme de Maintenon) from Marly to the Princesse des Ur- 
sins, after the death of the Duchesse de Bourgogne. And, 
in a few days afterwards, Marly was the scene of the 
sudden death of the Dauphin (Due de Bourgogne), the 
beloved pupil of Fenelon. Early in the morning after the 
death of his wife, he was persuaded, " malade et navre de 
la plus intime et de la plus amere douleur," to follow the 



DEATH OF THE DUC DE BOURGOGME 



137 



king to Marly, where he entered his own room by a win- 
dow on the ground floor. 

" Mme de Maintenon came soon ; judge what was the anguish 
of this interview ; she could not remain long and departed. . . . 
A fev/ moments afterwards he was told that the king was awake ; 
the tears he had checked swelled in his eyes. I approached and 
signed to him to go, and then proposed it to him in a low voice. 
Seeing that he did not move and was silent, I ventured to take 
his arm, and represent that sooner or later he must see the king, 
who was expecting him. . . . He gave a heartrending glance 
and went. 

" Every one who was then at Marly, a very small number, 
was in the grand saloon. Princes, princesses, grandes entries, 
were in the little saloon, between the apartments of the king 
and Mme de Maintenon ; she was in her chamber, but, informed 
of the king's waking, entered alone his apartments, crossing the 
little saloon, and all there entered soon afterwards. The Dau- 
phin, who came in by the cabinets, found everybody in the 
king's chamber, who, when he saw him, called him to him to 
embrace him tenderly and repeatedly. These first moments of 
emotion passed in words, broken by tears and sobs. 

" The king, soon after, looked at the Dauphin, and was 
alarmed. All present were so too, the physicians more than the 
others. . . . The king ordered him to go to bed ; he obeyed, 
and never rose again. . . . Inquietude respecting the Dau- 
phin increased. He did not conceal his belief that he would 
never rise. He even expressed himself so more than once, with a 
resignation, contempt of the world, and all that is great therein, 
submission and love of God that were beyond compare. No ex- 
pression can convey the general consternation. . . . 

" Friday morning, February 18, 1712, I heard very early that 
the Dauphin, who had waited impatiently for midnight, had 
heard mass soon after, had received the communion, and passed 
two hours after in solemn communion with God ; that then he 
received extreme unction, finally, that he died at half-past eight. 

" He knew the king perfectly, he respected him, and, at the 
end of his life, loved him as a son, paying him the attentive 
court of a subject who knew, however, what he was. He culti- 
vated Mme de Maintenon with all the attentions her situation de- 
manded. He loved the princes, his brothers, with tenderness, 
and his wife most passionately. The grief for her loss penetrated 



13S I? AYS NEAR PARIS 

his inmost vitals. His piety survived by prodigious efforts. 
The sacrifice was entire but not bloodless. In this terrible afflic- 
tion, he displayed nothing mean, small, or indecent. We saw a 
man, beside himself, who forced himself to bear a calm exterior 
and succumbed to the effort. 

" The days of this affliction were soon abridged. . . . But, 
great God ! what a spectacle you gave in him, that cannot be re- 
vealed in all its secret sublimity, which you alone can give, 
and the price of which you alone can tell ! What an imitation 
of Christ on the cross ! I speak not merely in regard to death 
and sufferings ; it rose far above that. What tender, calm views ! 
What excess of resignation, what eager thanksgivings for being 
preserved from the throne and the account he would have to 
give ! what ardent love of God ! what a piercing insight into his 
own nothingness and sins ! what a grand idea of infinite mercy ! 
what religious and holy fear ! what modest confidence ! what 
sage peace, what readings, what ceaseless prayers ! what ardent 
desire for the last sacraments ! what profound composure, what 
invincible patience, what sweetness, what constant goodness to 
all who drew near ! what pure charity that urged him to go to 
God ! France fell, finally, under this last chastisement ; God 
showed her a prince she did not merit. The world was not 
worthy of him, he was already ripe for a blessed eternity." — St. 
Simon, " Mlmoiresy 

It was also at Marly — " la funeste Marly " — that the 
Due de Berry, the younger grandson of Louis XIV., and 
husband of the profligate daughter of the Due d'Orleans — 
afterwards Regent, died, with great Suspieion of poison, in 
1 7 14. The MS. memorials of Mary Beatrice by a sister 
of Chaillot, describe how, when Louis XIV. was mourn- 
ing his beloved grandchildren, and that queen, whom he 
had always liked and respected, had lost her darling 
daughter Louisa, she went to visit him at Marly, where 
" they laid aside all Court etiquette, weeping together in 
their common grief, because, as the Queen said, ' We saw 
that the aged were left, and that Death had swept away 
the young.' " St. Simon depicts the last walk of the king 
in the gardens of Marly — " Tetrange ouvrage de ses mains " 



ABANDONMENT OF MARLY 139 

— on August 10^ 1715- He went away that evening to 
Versailles, where he died on September i. 

Marly was abandoned during the whole time of the 
Regency, and was only saved from total destruction in 
1 7 17, when the Regent Philippe d'Orle'ans had ordered its 
demolition, by the spirited remonstrance of St. Simon — 

" Let him consider how many millions have been thrown into 
that old sewer to make a fairy palace, unique in all Europe by 
its form, unique by the beauty of its fountains, unique, too, by 
the reputation that the late king gave it. Let him think that it 
was one of the objects of the curiosity of all strangers of every 
quality that came to France ; that this demolition will echo 
through Europe with reproaches which mean reasons of economy 
would not change ; that all France would be outraged by seeing 
itself deprived of so distinguished an ornament." — ''MMoires." 

The great pavilion itself only contained, as we have 
seen, a very small number of chambers. The querulous 
Smollett, who visited Marly in 1763, speaks of it as " No 
more than a pigeon-house in respect to a palace." But it 
was only intended as the residence of the king. 

"6th Dec, 1687. At Marly there are no rooms except to sleep 
and dress in ; that done, all the rest is for the public. In the 
king's apartment there is music ; in that of the Dauphin meals at 
midday and in the evening ; there, too, is the billiard-table, always 
filled. In the apartment of Monsieur is hazard, all the backgam- 
mon-tables and card-tables ; in mine are the shopkeepers, and 
there a fair is held." — Corrcspondance de Madame, 

"The thing that strikes me is the contrast between delicate 
art in the arbors and groves, and wild nature in a spreading mass 
of tall trees that dominate them and form the background. The 
pavilions, separated and half-buried in a forest, seem to be the 
abodes of different subaltern genii, whose master occupies the 
middle one. This gives the whole an air of fairyland that pleases 
me.' '—Diderot, ' ' Lettres a Mile Vollattd. ' ' 

During the repairs necessary in the reign of Louis XV., 
who built Choisy, and never lived at Marly, the cascade 
which fell behind the great pavilion was removed. Mme 



t4(3 i^A YS MEAR PARIS 

Campan describes the later Marly of Louis XVI., under 
whom the " voyages " had become one of the great bur- 
dens and expenses of royal life. The Court of Louis XVI. 
was here for the last time on June ii, 1789, but in the lat- 
ter years of Louis XVI. M. de Noailles, governor of St. 
Germain, was permitted to lend the smaller pavilions fur- 
nished to his friends for the summer months. Marly per- 
ished with the monarchy, and was sold at the Revolution, 
when the statues of its gardens were removed to the Tui- 
leries. A cotton mill was for a time established in the 
royal pavilion ; then all the buildings were pulled down 
and the gardens sold in lots ! 

Still, the site is worth visidng. The Grille Royale, 
now a simple wooden gate between two pillars with vases, 
opens on the road from St. Germain to Versailles, at the 
extremity of the aqueduct of Marly. Passing this, one 
finds one's self in an immense circular enclosure, the walls 
of which support the forest on every side. 

" He seems to see a vast circus, cleared and fortified in the 
midst of the woods, where the work of man has come to add 
itself audaciously to those of nature. Pillars, here and there cut 
down, give an idea of the porticoes that ought to adorn this en- 
trance ; beyond them, by gaps that time has made, the eye 
plunges, right and left, into greater constructions, which are lost 
in the thick shade of the trees. Opposite the gate by which one 
enters is a view still more surprising ; the road sinks into a gulf, 
where, from all points of the horizon, the forest seems to lower 
itself ; the tall trees, which, even in the midst of their wild lib- 
erty, witness, by a certain regularity, half effaced, to the fact that 
they were one day subject to the axe, seem to hang, one over the 
other, from the height of the steps of a gigantic amphitheatre, and 
all to incline towards the power that had forced nature, as well as 
nations, to obey its commands. 

"We hastened to penetrate into the depths of this abyss of 
verdure, the centre of all the grand landscape, made by man, by 
which it is surrounded. We descend between two walls that 
bear oaks and birches centuries old ; we come to a second circular 



THE SITE OF MARLY ,41 

enclosure, which we are tempted to take for the ruins of a palace, 
from the great undulations of verdure which hide its remains. 
The slightness of the opening which the view has at this spot 
warns you to descend farther ; and, after having crossed halls of 
greenery left to chance, you arrive at a grander pile, from the top 
of which the eye embraces a vast horizon. The ruins on which 
you stand evidently trace a circular form, and as far as the eye 
can reach, beyond the slopes that tower above you, beyond the 
plains watered by the Seine, hidden at the foot of the hill, the 
mountains, following the prolonged line of the heights of St. 
Germain, round out their delicate lines that disappear towards 
the woods of Montmorency. This time you have beneath your 
feet the famous palace where Louis XIV. concealed, in the midst 
of fetes, the sadness of his old age, and, in every line which 
seems to repeat at will the same harmonious curve, there is re- 
vealed the original plan which made Marly the king's delight, 
when, disgusted with the theatrical and too public pomp of Ver- 
sailles, he sought, in the depths of a better defended retreat, 
pleasures more tranquil. 

" You descend from the heap formed by the ruins of the 
palace of Louis XIV. ; in the midst of halls of verdure, which 
form pendants to those already traversed, you perceive, half 
erect, half lying in the grass, the remains of buildings corre- 
sponding to those of the second circular enclosure through which 
you have passed. Behind the palace, on the indented hill, you 
see, covered with moss, numerous steps over which a whole river 
of water ought to flow. On either side, roads, cut beneath the 
roots of the trees and bordered by great walls to sustain the 
earth, disclose views of a forest arranged on a plan in which the 
round line is always repeated. But you must go to the front 
of the palace itself to find the most beautiful spots in the gardens. 

"You descend from terrace to terrace ; each terrace used to 
support a lawn, on the sides of which, to right and left, ran an 
avenue that made the whole circuit of the amphitheatre of the 
garden. 

"The first terrace, crowned by the chateau, still displays its 
marvellous trees, once trimmed into arbors, of which their bases 
preserve the outline, flourishing, above these ancient vaults, with 
new trunks, free and vigorous, that seem a second forest grafted 
on the first. 

"The second terrace distinctly indicates the two lateral 
basins which adorned it, Iri the midst of the huge birches, which 



142 DA YS NEAR PARIS 

once covered with their shade elegant shells sculptured from 
marble or bronze, the water, whose conduits have been found 
impossible to destroy, rises naturally from the earth, which has 
kept the form of the ancient buildings ; at the spot, where the jet 
of water darted up towards the dome of these groves, rushes are 
growing thickly; the pond lilies bloom and cover this tranquil 
lake, which is not agitated, except occasionally by the hands of 
the village washerwomen. 

" The third and fourth terraces still present the remains of 
vast basins that occupied the greatest part of them ; their forms 
are sharply outlined to the eye by the sinking of the ground, and 
also by the fresher green of the plants that grow more freely in 
places once enriched by the waters." — Magasin pittoresque XVI. 
Mars, 1884. 

The Forest of Marly has been greatly curtailed of late 
years. The parts worth visiting are perhaps best reached 
by the Porte de I'Etang-la-Ville (4 k. from St. Germain), 
which has a railway station, named thus from a neighbor- 
ing village. If the forest be entered at Fourqueux, one 
soon reaches the Desert de Fetz, the gardens of which are 
lauded by Delille. 

As late as the time of Louis XIV. the forest of Marly 
abounded in wolves. " Madame " (Duchesse d'Orle'ans) 
describes in her letters going to hunt them with the Dau- 
phin, and how (February, 1709) they devoured a courier 
and his horse. 



The return from Marly may be varied by taking the 
railway by St. Cloud to Paris. The line passes 212 k {i^k. 
from Paris) Louveciennes (Mons Lupicinus), a pretty vil- 
lage, where Louis XV. built a. delightful villa for Mme du 
Barry, which she was allowed to retain under Louis XVI., 
and where she always walked about dressed in white mus- 
lin in summer and percale in winter. 

" The Comtesse du Barrj^ never forgot the indulgent treat- 
ment she met at the court of Louis XIV. ; she let th^ queen 



LOUVECIENNES 143 

know, during the most violent crises of the Revolution, that there 
was not in France a woman more stricken with grief than she for 
all that her queen had to suffer ; that the honor she had enjoyed 
of living many years near the throne, and the infinite goodness 
of the king and queen had attached her so sincerel)' to the cause 
of royalty that she begged the queen to grant her the honor of 
disposing of all she possessed. Without accepting these offers, 
their Majesties were touched by her gratitude." — Mi7ie Campan. 

Mme du Barry escaped in the early days of the Revo- 
lution, but was persuaded to return to Louveciennes, not — 
as is usually said — to look for her jewels, as they were 
already sold in England, but to join her admirer, the Due 
de Brissac, who was murdered by the people at Versailles, 
and his head exhibited on a pike under her window. She 
was herself betrayed by the negro boy Zamore, upon whom 
she had heaped innumerable benefits, and was guillotined 
with the final supplication, "Ne me faites pas du mal, 
monsieur le bourreau ! " upon her lips. The beautiful pa- 
vilion of her villa, built by Ledoux, still exists, but the in- 
terior is much altered. 



V. 

POISSY AND MANTES, ARGENTEUIL. 

ON the Chemin de Fer de Rouen ; by rail from the Gave St. 
Lazare. Poissy and Mantes form a most delightful day's 
excursion from Paris, though architects and artists will wish to 
stay longer at Mantes. Vigny requires a separate excursion. 

The line passes — 

17/^. Maisons-Laffitte, — The magnificent chateau of 
Maisons was built by Frangois Mansart for Rene de Lon- 
gueil, Surintendant des Finances. Voltaire frequently 
staid there with the President de Maisons, and nearly died 
there of the small-pox. On his recovery, he had scarcely 
left the chateau to set out on his return to Paris, when the 
room he had occupied and the adjoining chambers were 
destroyed by fire. In 1778 the chateau was bought by the 
Comte d'Artois, and an apartment was arranged there for 
each of the royal family. Maisons was sold as national 
property at the Revolution, and has since belonged to the 
Due de Montebello, and to the banker Laffitte, by whom 
part of the park has been cut up for villas. 

As Maisons is approached by the railway, there is a 
fine view (on right) of the stately chateau rising above the 
west bank of the Seine, with a highly picturesque mill of 
the same date striding across an arm of the river in the 
foreground. 



jPO/SSV 



H5 



"The chateau of Maisons, built by Francois Mansart about 
the year 1658, is one of those happy designs which seem to have 
linked together the style of Francis I. with that of Louis XIV. 
It combines the playfulness of outline which prevailed at an 
earlier age with a strict adherence to the proprieties of the Orders 
as then understood. The roof is enormous, but relieved by the 
chimneys and by being broken into masses ; while the whole 
effect of the design is that it is the house of a nobleman, of sin- 
gular elegance, neither affecting templar grandeur nor descending 
into littleness." — Fergusson. 

i\k. is Sarfrouville, where the church has a central 
romanesque octagon, with a stone spire of later date. 
The nave piers are cyUndrical, the arches pointed tran- 
sitional. 

22 >^. Conjlans-St.- Honor ine. — This place receives its 
first name from its situation at the confluence of the Seine 
and Oise ; its second from the shrine of St. Honorine, 
brought hither by a native of Graville for protection from 
the Normans in 898 : her relics are still carried in pro- 
cession on Ascension Day. The parish church of St. 
Madou has an admirable romanesque tower of the XII. c. 
In the choir is the tomb of Jean I , Seigneur de Mont- 
morency, and near it the XIV. c. statue of Mathieu IV. 
de Montmorency, Admiral and High Chamberlain of 
France, 1304. A tower, called La Baronnie^ marks the 
site of the priory of St. Honorine. 

27^. Poissy {Hotel de Rouen^ right of station: very 
humble), on the left bank of the Seine, was the seat of a 
very ancient royal residence, destroyed by Charles V. If 
St. Louis was not born here he was certainly baptized 
I^re, and was wont to sign himself " Louis de Poissy." 

Close to the railway, in the centre of the tiny town, 
rises the noble Church. Late romanesque, with flamboyant 
additions, it has a most striking outline. The older por- 
tions — the nave, the apsidal choir with its two apsides, and 



146 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



the west and central towers, date from the XI. c, though 
the massive west tower, supporting a conical stone spire, 
and the two first bays of the nave, were rebuilt, on the old 
lines, in the XVII c. The nave chapels are XV. c. The 
west tower formerly served as a porch, but this is now 




WEST TOWER, POISSY. 



blocked up, and the principal entrance is by a magnificent 
early XVI. c. porch on the south, with open arches on two 
sides : it has been injured externally by coarse restoration, 
but is untouched within. 



CHURCH OF POISSY 147 

"The spire of the central clock tower is of wood, like some 
spires of Norman belfries in an analogous situation, and there 
is no reason to suppose that it was originally designed in stone. 
The open story of the octagonal belfry is composed of coupled 
arcades on the larger, and of simple arcades on the smaller sides. 
The base of this clock tower does not support a cupola or lan- 
tern, like the central towers of the Rhine or of Normandy ; it is 
only the lower story of the belfry above the vaulting of the nave." 
— VioUet-le-Duc. 

The interior is exceedingly beautiful and has been well 
restored. A number of early statues of saints are full of 
quaint character. The romanesque chapel on the north of 
the choir contains a fragment of the font in which St. Louis 
was baptized. 

" C'est pourquoy, estant un jour en ce lieu depuis qu'il fut 
roy, il dit avec joye a ses amis que c'estoit la qu'il avoit receu le 
plus grand honneur qu'il eust jamais eu. C'est pourquoy lors- 
qu'il ecrivoit en secret a ses amis particuliers, et qu'il vouloit 
supprimer sa qualite de roy, il se nommoit Louis de Poissy ou 
le seigneur de Poissi. On dit qu'il se plaisoit particulierement 
en ce lieu." — Le Naui de Tillemont. 

A considerable part at least of the rest of the font has 
been taken as dust in glasses of water by the faithful as 
a cure for fever. In the same chapel is a tombstone, with 
a very curious epitaph, recording how Remy Renault, 
1630, was twice dead and twice alive, how, after having 
been consigned to the tomb, he was resuscitated by the 
devotion of his son, expressed in ardent prayer to St. 
Genevieve, and rose again a second Lazarus, to be called 
**Le ressuscite." His son, a second Remy, who ordained 
special worship to St. Genevieve for her favor, now rests 
with him. 

In the opposite chapel of St. Louis are relics of the 
sainted king. This chapel formerly had a stained-glass 



, 48 DA YS NEAR PARIS 

window representing the birth of St. Louis, and beneath 
were the XVI. c. lines — 

" Sainte-Louis fut un enfant de Poissy, 
Et baptise en la presente eglise ; 
Les fonts en sont gardes encore ici, 
Et honores comme relique exquise." 

The apsidal chapel, filled with ex-votos to the Virgin, 
has modern stained-glass illustrative of the life of St. 
Louis. 

A little behind the church is a fine old gateway, flanked 
by two round towers, the principal existing remnant of the 
famous Abbey of Poissy, which Philippe le Bel founded in 
1304, in the place of an earlier Augustinian monastery 
founded by Constance of Normandy, wife of King Robert. 
In its refectory, Catherine de Medicis convoked the Col- 
loque de Poissy in 1560, when thirty Protestants, with The- 
odore de Beze at their head, disputed upon religious sub- 
jects with the papal legate^ sixteen cardinals, forty bishops, 
and a number of other theologians. Nothing remains of 
the magnificent abbey church, a marvel of architectural 
beauty, begun by Philippe le Bel and finished by Philippe 
de Valois, which was pulled down in the beginning of the 
XIX. c. It contained the tombs of Queen Constance, 
Philippe le Bel, Agnes de M^ranie, and of Philippe and 
Jean of France, children of Louis VIII. and Blanche of 
Castile. A pewter urn, containing the heart of the founder, 
Philippe le Bel, was found during some repairs in 1687. 
Reached by the abbey gate is the house occupied, for 
thirty years, by the famous artist Meissonier. 

On the right of the station is the entrance to the Bridge 
(originally of thirty-seven arches) built by St. Louis, but 
all its character is destroyed by its being lowered and by the 
substitution of a cast-iron parapet for the original of stone. 



MEDAM 



149 



The famous Cattle-market of Poissy, founded by St. 
Louis, is still held every Thursday. 

The line passes (left) Medan, with a chateau dating from 
the XV. c, and in which pavilions of that date are con- 
nected by galleries of the time of Henri IV. In the 
XVII. c. church is the font of the famous royal church 
of St. Paul in Paris, inscribed — 

" A ces fons furent unefois 
Baptisez pluseurs dues et rois, 
Princes, contes, barons, prelatz 
Et autres gens de tons estatz. 
Et afin que ce on cognoisse, 
lis servoient en la paroisse 
Royal de Saint Pol de Paris, 
Ou les Roys se tenoient jadis : 
Entre autres y fut notablement 
Baptist honourablement 
Le sage roy Charles-le-Quint 
Et son fils qui aprez lui vint, 
Charles le large bie[n] [aijme 
Sixieme de ce nom cla[m]6." 

35 k. Triel. — A considerable place under the hills, on the 
right. The village of Vernouillet (left of the station) has a 
steeple of good outline rising from a romanesque tower. 
A number of ruined emigres^ on their return to France 
after the Revolution, united to buy its chateau, and spent 
the rest of their lives there in happy harmony ! The 
adjoining village of VerJieiiil has a central romanesque 
tower with late additions. The cruciform church of Triel 
itself is chiefly of the XIV. c, with a plain central tower : 
a street passes beneath the lofty choir. Vaux (i/^.) has 
a romanesque tower and transept, and an elegant semi- 
circular early pointed apse ; the nave, which has aisles, 
but no clerestory, is XIV. c. 

41 ^. Meulan-les-Mureaiix. — The station is at Mtireaux, 



1^0 DA YS NEAR PARIS 

where the modern church contains six curious XIII c. 
columns : of these, four, at the entrance, support a kind 
of triumphal arch of three openings. A stone bridge con- 
nects Mureaux with Meulan, once the chief town of a 
countship, which was united to the crown of France by 
Philippe Auguste in 1203. Louis XIII. established a con- 
vent of the Annunciation here for Charlotte du Puy de 
Jesus-Maria, whose prayers were believed to have re- 
moved the barrenness of Anne of Austria. The church of 
Notre Dame, in the lower town, is XIV. c. and XV. c. ; 
that of St. Nicolas, on the hill (Le Haut Meulan), has a 
XII. c. ambulatory. Near Notre Dame is a good XIV c. 
house. On the island called Le Fort, are remains of a 
XV. c. chapel of St. Jacques, and of a castle of which Du 
Guesclin overthrew the donjon, when it was defended by 
the partisans of Charles le Mauvais. 

5 k. to the north, occupying a square eminence, is the 
interesting Chateau de Vigny, built by Cardinal Georges 
d'Amboise. 

"The Chateau of Vigny quite resembles those of the XV. c, 
only there may be remarked that the towers were applied to the 
walls as much for ornament as for a means of defence. The large 
windows, equally distributed in all parts of the exterior walls, 
prove how much attacks were dreaded. 

"This beautiful chateau, built on a site cut square, presents 
the form of an oblong square. The longer side, which serves as 
a fagade, is adorned by four towers at equal distances, sur- 
mounted by machicolations, and crowned by very tall and very 
elegant conical roofs. The gate of entrance is in the middle, 
between the two central towers, in a kind of advanced work or 
pavilion, which recalls, by its position, the donjons of certain 
chateaux of the XII. c. 

" Many of the windows are surmounted by imitation arcades, 
and adorned with wreaths of foliage which proclaim sufficiently 
the last years of the XV. century, and the beginning of the XVI." 
— De Catimont, ^''Architecture militaire.''^ 



MANTES 151 

49 k. Epbne. — The chateau belonged to the family of 
Crdqui. The church has an octagonal romanesque tower, 
containing an XI. c. portal : two other portals are XII. c. 
An omnibus runs from the station of Epone to that of 
Villiers-Neauphle on the line from Paris to Dreux, by the 
valley of the Mauldre^ passing (12 /^.) Aulnay, where the 
church contains an ancient tabernacle beautifully sculpt- 
ured ; and (20/&.) Maule, where the church was built 1070- 
II 18, has a tower of 1547, and covers an XL c. crypt: a 
beautiful XV. c. chapel serves as a sacristy. The chateau 
dates from Louis XIII. 

$T k. Mantes, (Hotel dii Grand Cerf, a good old-fash- 
ioned inn: du Soleil d^ Or.) "Mantes la jolie," of the 
old topographers, is a charming and interesting old town. 
It was in 1087, after burning Mantes, which he had 
reclaimed from Philippe I. of France, that William the 
Conqueror, whilst riding proudly round the town, received 
the injury of which he died a few days after at Rouen. 

' ' While he galloped across the ruins, his horse put both his feet 
on some burning materials covered by cinders, fell, and hurt him 
in the belly. The excitement he had put himself in by riding and 
shouting, the heat of the fire and of the season rendered a wound 
dangerous. He was carried, sick, to Rouen, and, thence, to a 
monastery beyond the walls of the city, as he could not bear the 
noise. He languished for six weeks, surrounded by physicians 
and priests, and, his illness still increasing, he sent some money 
to Mantes to rebuild the churches that he had burned." — Atigustin 
Thierry. 

The noble church of Notre Dame was built with the 
money sent by William the Conqueror, and was again 
rebuilt at the end of the XII. c. at the same time as 
Notre Dame de Paris, to which it has a great resemblance. 
Its facade shows what that of Paris would have been if 
its completion had not been delayed till the middle of the 



1^2 



DA VS NEAR PAklS 



XIII. c. Of the three grand portals, two are admirable 
examples of the XII. c. ; that on the right was rebuilt in 
1300, with a gable copied from the south portal of Rouen 
cathedral, which adds to the effect of the building by its 
variety. Above the three portals are seven arches, of 
which four light the first floors of the two towers. Higher, 
is a large window in each tower, and in the centre a beauti- 
ful rose-window. The graceful gallery above, of slender 
lancet arches, is comparatively modern. The upper story 




MANTES. 



of the towers, of open arches, is indescribably light and 
beautiful. The retired space, shaded by trees, in which the 
church stands, recalls an English cathedral close in the 
charm of its seclusion. 

The church has no transept, and originally it had only 
a simple ambulatory, with no radiating chapels ; the five 
chapels which surround the choir only having been added 
in the XIV. c. The clerestory is exceedingly light, and 
the triforium, covering the whole space of the aisles, of 
great width. Two leaden coffins recently discovered are 



MANTES i^^ 

supposed to contain the heart and entrails of Philippe 
Auguste, who died at Mantes, July 14, 1223. Viollet-le- 
Duc mentions the Chapelle de Navarre on the south of 
the choir^ with its four arches meeting at a central pillar, 
as one of the finest examples of the XIV. c. in the He de 
France. Its four great windows are beautiful in design, 
have grand fragments of stained glass, and are supported 
by a graceful arcade. Against the wall of the north aisle 
is the curious incised grave-stone of Robert Gueribeau 
(1644), founder of the Ursuline convent. 

"The magnificent edifice rises on an inclined space, that 
might be described as bordered by ecclesiastical dwellings, but 
into which there has, nevertheless, glided like an intruder, a 
pretty, gallant, charming little theatre in Pompadour style, sculpt- 
ured z.xi^ pomponee like a bit of Sevres china." — Barron, '' Les 
environs de Fa^is." 

An artist will find attractive subjects in the noble tower 
of 1340, which is all that remains of the great church of 
St. Macloii, destroyed in the Revolution, and in the gothic 
entrance (1344) of the old 'Hotel de Ville (which has a 
stone staircase of the time of Charles VIII. ), with a pretty 
renaissance fountain in front of it. Many picturesque 
fragments remain of the ancient walls and towers with 
which Mantes was surrounded by Charles le Mauvais and 
Charles le Sage, especially the Tour de St. Martin and an 
old postern gate on the Qiiai des Cordeliers. Of the other 
gates, the ^(?r/^ C^^;//^ / (9/^ still exists. There is a very 
picturesque, half-ruined bridge connecting the right bank 
with the island in the Seine, whence there is the best view 
of Notre Dame, rising in gray grandeur above the broken 
outline of the old houses, and the whole mirrored in the 
Seine. 

Beyond the island, with its pleasant promenades, a 



r^4 DAYS MEAk PARIS 

second bridge leads to the suburb of Limay, which has a 
modern mairie, of good design, and a church chiefly of 
the XIII. c. and XV. c, but possessing a very beautiful 
XII. c. tower and spire, with a romanesque chapel be- 
neath. On the left of the west entrance is the tomb of 
Jean le Chenet, grand-ecuyer to Charles V., and his wife, 
brought from the chapel of St. Antoine, which they 
founded at the Celestine Convent ; behind it is a Pieta in 
colored relief, on either side of which are the founders pre- 
sented by their patron saints. The low wide font is of 
the XIII. c. 

On the hill above Limay is Le Chateau des Celestins, 
on the site of a convent founded in 1376 by Charles V. ; 
and a little below the white walls of its vineyard terraces a 
path leads to the Hermitage of St Sauveur i^\k. from Man- 
tes). The way winds along the edge of the limestone hills, 
which, ugly in form, especially lend themselves to vine- 
yards, and the views of the windings of the Seine are 
beautiful. A stone cross stands at a point where there is 
an exquisite view of Mantes — the noble towers of Notre 
Dame rising above rich woods and a graceful bend of the 
river, and the wavy hills, in soft succession of pink and 
blue distances, folding behind them. The present hermit 
is a woman with a number of children, but the place is 
very quaint and picturesque — a little establishment en- 
closed by walls, and a church of considerable size caverned 
out of the rock, and containing a curious old St. Sepulchre 
and a number of other figures full of character, brought 
from the Celestins ; also the effigy of Thomas le Tourneur, 
secretary of Charles V., and canon of Mantes, who died in 
that convent. 

Those who wish for a longer walk may cross the Seine 
by a ferry to the church of Gassicourt (3 k. from Mantes), 



HERMITAGE OF ST. SAUVEUR 



155 



partly of the XI. c. and XIII. c, which belonged formerly 
to a Cluniac priory, and of which Bossuet always held the 
living. The portal is curious. The choir windows have 
remains of stained glass given by Blanche of Castile. A 
curious sculpture represents Jesus offering to the Queen, 
as the Virgin, the portrait of St. Louis as a child. There 
are considerable remains of mural paintings, and, in the 
Chapelle St. Eloi, a sculptured lavabo. 

A road runs north-west from Mantes, evading a wide 
bend of the river, by the Chateau de Mesnil to (12 k.) 




HERMITAGE OF ST. SAUVEUR. 



Veiheuil^ which has an important collegiate church, partly 
gothic and partly renaissance, to the ornamentation of 
which many kings and queens of France have contributed. 
The porch bears the monograms of Frangois I. and Henri 
II. The south and west doors are sculptured with scenes 
from Scripture history. The west portal, surmounted by a 
triple gallery, has statues of royal benefactors ; the central 
column bears a figure of Charity. The unfinished tower is 
of 1350. In the interior are considerable remains of 
mural paintings. The XII. c. choir has good stall-work. 



156 daVs near Paris 

At the end of the Cour de fEglise is a little crypt, a relic 
of the primitive church of Vetheuil. 

At 19 >^. from Mantes (2I k. from the station of Gasny 
on the line from Vernon to Gisors), is the famous castle 
of La Roche-Guy on, founded by Guy de Guyon in 998 
(though the existing buildings are of the XIII. c), and 
taken by the English in 14 18, after a gallant defence by 
Perette la Riviere, widow of Guy VI. de la Roche Guyon, 
who fell at Agincourt. Old ballads tell the story of a lord 
of the castle murdered in 1097 t)y his father-in-law, together 
with his wife, who vainly endeavored to protect him. The 
immense substructions are hewn out of the rock; the 
principal remaining building is the donjon. The later 
Chateau of the Due de la Roche-Guyon, at the foot of the 
rock, has some traces of the XIII. c, and an entrance 
gate of the XV. c. The Salle des Gardes, inscribed with the 
family mottoes, Cest mon plaisir : In Deo confido^ is filled 
with armor. The Chambre de Henri IV. contains the 
king's bed and bureau. The XV. c. Church contains the 
tomb of Francois de Silly, Due de la Roche-Guyon, 1627, 
with his kneeling statue. A number of members of the 
families of La Rochefoucauld, De Rohan, and De Mont- 
morency, repose in the vaults. A Fountain, between the 
church and the chateau, was erected by Due Alexandre de 
la Rochefoucauld in 1717. 

The first station west of Mantes is (6 k.) Rosny, with 
the XVI. c. Chateau, built by the famous Sully (Maxi- 
milien de Be'thune), to replace an earlier chateau in which 
he was born, December 13, 1550. It was left unfinished 
in 1 610, as he had no longer spirit to continue the work 
after the murder of his beloved master, Henri IV. The 
Duchesse de Berri, daughter-in-law of Charles X., in- 
habited it as a summer residence ; and a funeral monu- 



COLOMBES 1^7 

ment remains behind the altar of the church, which once 
supported the heart of the murdered Due de Berri. The 
chateau of Rosny now belongs to Lebaudy, the sugar- 
refiner ! 

To the south of Mantes is Rosay^ where the pict- 
uresque brick chateau of the Comtesse de Jobal dates 
from Henri HI., and, between Rosay and Septeuil, the 
little village of St. Corentin, which possessed an abbey 
where Agnes de Meranie, wife of Philippe Auguste, was 
buried, with the heart and entrails of Blanche of Castile. 



Argenteuil is reached in twenty minutes from the Gare 
St. Lazare, passing — 

6 k. Colombes. — In this village, which belonged to the 
abbey of St Denis, was the convent of the Visitation de 
Chaillot, founded by Henrietta Maria, widow of Charles I. 
of England — "la reine malheureuse." It was at Chaillot 
that Mme de Motteville, lady-in-waiting to Anne of 
Austria, wrote the description of the English Revolution 
in her Mhnoires from the lips of the queen; and here 
her wise sister, known in the court as Socratine, took 
the veil. After the death of Henrietta Maria (August 31, 
1669, aged sixty, at a chateau which she possessed at 
Colombes ^), her heart was given to Chaillot. Her body 
also lay in state in the convent before its removal to 
St. Denis : and here, forty days after her death, a magnifi- 
cent commemoration service was performed in the presence 
of the Duke and Duchess of Orleans. Bossuet then pro- 
nounced a discourse, in which he reviewed the varied 
historic episodes which had attended the life of " the 

* The Rue de la Reine-Henriette commemorates the residence of the queen 
at Colombes. 



158 DA YS NEAR PARIS 

queen incomparable, our great Henrietta," whose " griefs 
had made her learned in the science of salvation and the 
efficacy of the cross, whilst all Christendom united in 
sympathy for her unexampled sorrows — Sa propre patrie 
lui fut un triste lieu d'exil." 

Queen Mary Beatrice came to Chaillot from St. Ger- 
main to spend the time of James II.'s absence in Ireland, 
and made a great friendship with three of the nuns 
in the convent, her "three Ang^liques." She frequently 
visited Chaillot afterwards, and kept up a constant corre- 
spondence with its inmates. Hither she retired imme- 
diately after the death of James H., and one of the nuns 
records ^ how, in her weeds, covered by a long black veil, 
and preceded by the nuns singing the " De Profundis," 
she came to the chapel to visit the heart of her husband. 
" She bowed her head, clasped her hands together, knelt, 
and kissed the urn through the black crape which covered 
it, then, after a silent prayer, rose, and having asperged it 
with holy water, without sigh or tear, turned about silently, 
with great apparent firmness, but, before she had made 
four steps, fell in such a faint as caused fears for her life." 

In her latter years Mary Beatrice lived much in the 
seclusion of Chaillot, taking refuge here when she had 
given all she possessed to the importunity of the English 
exiles ; and she bequeathed her heart to rest for ever in 
the convent, and her body till the moment she always 
hoped for should arrive, when her remains should be 
transported to Westminster with those of the king her hus- 
band and their daughter Louisa. 

It was to Chaillot that Mile de la Valliere fled, when 
she first escaped from the Court and from the indiffer- 

1 Chaillot MS. 



CHAILLOT i^g 

ence of Louis XIV., captivated by Mme de Montespan ; 
and hither Colbert came on the part of his master, to 
bring her back once more to the Court, whence she soon 
fled a second time, and for ever. 

In the church of the Minims of Chaillot was the tomb 
of Fran^oise de Veyni d'Arbouse, wife of Antoine Duprat, 
afterwards Cardinal and Chancellor of France under Fran- 
9ois I., and that of the brave Marechal Comte de Rantzau, 
inscribed : — 

" Du corps du grand Rantzau tu n'as que des parts, 
L'autre moitie resta dans les plaines de Mars : 
II dispersa partout ses membres et sa gloire. 
Tout abattu qu'il fut, il demeura vainqueur : 
Son sang fut en cent lieux le prix de sa victoire, 
Et Mars ne lui laissa rien d'entier que le cceur." 

At Bezons^ a little west of Colombes, near the Seine, 
are some remains of the chateau inhabited by the Mare- 
chal de Bezons in the beginning of the XVIII. c. 

i)k. Argenteuil, famous for its wine and for its Benedict- 
ine monastery, of which the famous Heloise was prioress 
in the beginning of the XII. c, before she went to the 
Paraclete. Its great relic was the seamless tunic of our 
Saviour, supposed to have been woven by the Virgin. 
Matthew of Westminster says that it grew with the growth 
of Jesus — Mater ejus fecerat ei, et crevit ipso crescente. 
Gregory of Tours says that, after the Crucifixion, the 
" Holy Tunic " was preserved in a hidden cellar in the 
town of Galatia, fifty leagues from Constantinople. This 
town was destroyed by the Persians in 590, but the tunic 
was saved, and carried to Jaffa, and thence, in 595, to 
Jerusalem. In 614 it is believed to have been carried 
off by Chosroes II. of Persia, when he sacked the holy 
city, but his son gave it up in 628 to Heraclius, who car- 



i6o DA YS NEAR PARIS 

ried it to Constantinople. Here it remained till the Em- 
press Irene gave it to Charlemagne, who bestowed it upon 
his daughter Theodrada, abbess of Argenteuil. In the 
IX. c, , when the convent was sacked by the barbarians of 
the north, the tunic was lost, but its existence is supposed 
to have been revealed by an angel to a monk in 1156, and 
henceforth it worked many miracles. The Huguenots, 
taking Argenteuil in 1567, made "a plaything" of the 
tunic; but Henri III., Louis XIII. , Marie de Medicis 
and Anne of Austria made pilgrimages to it, and Mile de 
Guise gave it a sumptuous shrine. At the Revolution the 
church was pillaged, and the shrine carried off, but the 
tunic was hidden in the presbytery garden, where it was 
found by the Bishop of Versailles in 1804, and restored to 
the church. A morsel was given, at his urgent request, to 
Pius IX. and another to the Jesuit convent at Fribourg. 
The Cathedral of Treves possesses the robe of Christ, as 
distinguished from the tunic. 

At the end of the long winding street of Argenteuil, is 
the very handsome modern romanesque church. The 
shrine is in the right transept, and, near it, a picture by 
Bouterwek, representing the reception of the relic by Char- 
lemagne's daughter. The church bells still ring at i p.m., 
the hour at which the seamless tunic arrived in the VIII. c. 



VI. 

ST. DENIS, ENGHIEN, AND MONTMORENCY. 

ST. DENIS may be reached by rail from the Chemin de Fer 
du Nord in fifteen minutes, but the station of St. Denis is 
a long way from the cathedral. A much better plan is to take 
the tramway (ever}'- half hour), from the Rue Taitbout or Boule- 
vard Haussmann (an omnibus runs in connection from the 
Boulevard St. Denis), which sets visitors down close to the 
cathedral. 

Hotel de France ; du Grand Cerf. 

The way to St. Denis lies through the manufacturing 
suburb of Paris, and is very ugly. The crosses (Monjoies, 
Mons gaudii) which once bordered the way, have long 
perished. 

" In the way were faire crosses of stone carv'd with fieurs de 
lys at every furlong's end, where they affirme St. Denys rested 
and layd down his head after martyrdom." — Joh^i Evelyjt. 

On the site of an oratory in which the pious Catulla 
placed the relics of St. Denis, with his companions Rus- 
ticus and Eleutherius, after their death at the Mons mar- 
tyriim (Montmartre), and in the village which in the 
XII. c. was called from her Vicus Catholiacensis, rose the 
famous abbey of St. Denis. In the V. c. St. Genevieve 
rebuilt the chapel of St. Denis, and her work was four 
times reconstructed before the XIII. c, to which the 
present building is due, though, in the crypt, some arches 
remain from the church of Dagobert, 630. The Abbot 



1 62 DA YS NEAR PARIS 

Suger, who governed France during the crusade of Louis 
VII., built greater part of the church which we now see, 
the church in which Jeanne Dare offered her sword and 
armor upon the altar, and in which Henri IV. abjured 
Protestantism. The western fagade, of 1140, has three 
romanesque portals, richly decorated with sculpture, that 
in the centre with statues of the wise and foolish virgins. 
Only one of the two side towers remains ; that on the 
north, pulled down in 1846, had a tall spire. The remain- 
ing tower contains the great bell of Charles V., recast in 
1758, and called Louise, in honor of Louis XV. The 
stately aspect of the interior is greatly enhanced by the 
four staircases leading to the chevet. The choir, sur- 
rounded by radiating chapels, was consecrated in 1144. 
The stained-glass windows are mostly of the reign of 
Louis Philippe. Only one is ancient, that in the Chapel 
of the Virgin, with the genealogy of Christ. 

In 1790, the decree which suppressed the religious 
orders put an end to the existence of the abbey of St. 
Denis, which had lasted more than eleven centuries and a 
half. The monks celebrated mass for the last time on 
September 14, 1792, after which their church became that 
of the parish. But in 1793 ^^ church also was closed, 
and was only reopened in the following year, as a Tem- 
ple of Reason. In 1800, when Chateaubriand saw St. 
Denis, the church was unroofed, the windows broken, and 
the tombs were gone. 

" The people, in savage fury over the tombs, seemed to ex- 
hume its own history and cast it to the winds. The axe broke 
the bronze gates given by Charlemagne to the basilica of St. 
Denis. Railings, roof-pieces, statues, all crumbled into frag- 
ments beneath the hammer. Stones were torn up, tombs violated, 
coffins smashed in. A mocking curiosity examined under the 
bandages and shrouds the enbalmed bodies, the consumed flesh, 



CATHEDRAL OF ST. DENIS 



163 



the calcined bones, the empty skulls of kings, queens, princes, 
ministers, or bishops, whose names had echoed through the past 
history of France. Pepin, the founder of the Carlovingian 
dynasty, and the father of Charlemagne, was only a pinch of grey 
dust, that the wind carried off. The mutilated heads of the 
Turennes, the Duguesclins, Louis XII., Francis I. rolled on the 
parvis. Every step was on piles of sceptres, crowns, pastoral 
staves, historic or religious attributes. An immense ditch, the 
sides of which were covered with quicklime, to destroy the 
bodies, was dug in one of the outer cemeteries, called the Ceme- 
tery of the Valois. Perfumes were burned in the vaults to purify 
the air. After every blow of the axe, the shouts of the diggers 
were heard as they discovered the remains of a king, and played 
with his bones. 

" Under the choir were buried the princes and princesses of 
the first race and some of the third — Hugh Capet, Philippe le 
Hardi, Philippe le Bel. They were stripped of their silk bands 
and thrown into a bed of lime. 

" Henri IV., skilfully enbalmed by Italians, preserved his 
historic countenance. His chest, when exposed, still displayed 
the two wounds by which his life had fled. His beard, scented 
and spread out in fan-shape, as in, his pictures, evidenced the 
care which this voluptuous king took about his appearance. His 
memory, dear to the people, protected him for a moment from 
profanation. The crowd defiled in silence for two days before 
this still popular corpse. Placed in the choir at the foot of the 
altar, he received in death the respectful homage of the muti- 
lators of ro3'alty. Javogues, a representative of the people, was 
indignant at such posthumous superstition. He endeavored to 
demonstrate in a few words to the people, that this king, brave 
and amorous, had been the seducer rather than the saver of his 
people. ' He deceived,' said Javogues, ' God, his mistresses, and 
his people ; let him not deceive posterity and )rour justice.' The 
corpse of Henri IV. was flung into the common grave. 

"His son and grandson, Louis XIII. and Louis XIV., fol- 
lowed him. Louis XIII. was only a mummy, Louis XIV. a black, 
amorphous mass of spices. The man was lost after death in per- 
fumes, as during life in pride. The sepulchre of the Bourbons 
gave up its dead ; queens, dauphines, princesses were carried in 
armfuls, by laborers, and thrown, with their entrails, into the pit. 
Louis XV. came last from the tomb. The infection of his reign 
seemed to rise from his sepulchre. A mass of powder had to be 



164 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

burned to dissipate the mephitic odor of the corpse of this prince, 
whose scandals had degraded royalty. 

" In the tomb of the Charleses, there was found by the side of 
Charles V. a hand of justice and a gold crown, and the spindle 
and nuptial ring to the coffin of Jeanne de Bourbon, his wife. 

"The tomb of the Valois was empty. The just hatred of the 
people sought Louis XI. in vain. This king had himself buried 
in one of the sanctuaries of the Virgin, whom he so often invoked 
even to aid him in his crimes. 

" The body of Turenne, injured by the cannon-ball, was 
venerated by the people. It was saved from re-interment, and 
preserved for nine years in the garrets of the Museum of Natural 
Histor)^ at the Jardin dcs Plantes, among the stuffed animals. 
The soldiers' tomb of the Invalides was granted to this hero by 
the hand of a soldier like him. Duguesclin, Suger, Vendome, 
heroes, abbes, ministers of the monarch)"-, were hurled, pell-mell, 
into the earth which confounded recollections of glory with rec- 
ollections of slavery. 

" Dagobert I. and his wife Nantilde reposed in the same sep- 
ulchre for twelve centuries. There was no head to the skeleton 
of Nantilde as to the skeletons of many queens. King John 
closed this mournful procession of the dead. The tombs were 
emptied. One corpse, it was seen, was wanting, that of a young 
princess, daughter of Louis XV., who had fled into a convent 
from the scandals of the throne, and died in the robe of a Carme- 
lite. The vengeance of the Revolution sought for the virgin's 
corpse even in the tomb of the cloister where she had fled all 
grandeur. The coffin was brought to St. Denis to undergo the 
punishment of exhumation and the garbage-pit. No corpse was 
spared. Nothing royal was deemed innocent. This brutal in- 
stinct revealed in the Revolution the desire to repudiate the long 
past of France. It would have liked to tear out all the pages of 
its history, to date all from the republic." — Lamartine, ^^ Hist, des 
Girondins.'''' 

Englishmen are interested in the fact that the first 
coffin disinterred at St. Denis was that of Henrietta Ma- 
ria, widow of Charles I. of England. The next was that 
of her daughter Henrietta, first wife of the Due d'Orleans, 
brother of Louis XIV. 

None of the monuments which existed in the abbey- 



MOi^UMENTS OF ST. DENIS 165 

church before the Revolution were older than the time of 
St. Louis. It was that king who placed tombs upon the 
resting-places of his predecessors from the time of Dago- 
bert to that of Louis VI., his great-great-grandfather. Very 
few princes and princesses of the first two dynasties were 
buried at St. Denis, but the house of Capet were almost 
all laid there. Of its thirty-two monarchs, only three de- 
sired to be buried elsewhere — Philippe I. at St. Benoit- 
sur-Loire ; Louis VII. at the abbey of Barbeau \ Louis XL 
at Notre Dame de Clery. The coffins up to the XIV. c. 
were in stone, after that in lead. The effigies placed here 
by St. Louis cannot be considered as portraits. The first 
statue which appears to aim at portraiture is that of Phi- 
lippe le Hardi. After the time of Henri II. no royal monu- 
ments were erected, and two long lines of coffins of fifty- 
four members of the House of Bourbon were placed on 
iron trestles in the sanctuary of the crypt, without tombs. 
The Dauphin, eldest son of Louis XVI. (June, 1789), 
filled the last place which remained unoccupied j a new 
burial-place was in contemplation, when the Revolution 
cleared out all the vaults. Up to that time, besides tKe 
abbots of St. Denis, only twelve illustrious persons had 
received the honor of burial amongst the kings — Pierre de 
Nemours and Alphonse de Brienne, who died before 
Carthage in 1270, and whose remains were brought back 
with those of St. Louis ; Du Guesclin, the liberator of 
France, and his brother in arms, Louis de Sancerre ; Bureau 
de la Riviere, the faithful councillor of Charles V. and 
Charles VI. ; Arnaud de Guilhem, killed at the battle of 
Bulgue'ville, 1431 ; Sedile de St. Croix, wife of Jean Pas- 
tourel, councillor of Charles V. ; Guillaume de Chastel, 
killed at the battle of Pontoise, 1441 ; Louis de Pontoise, 
killed at the siege of Crotoy, 1475 \ the Due de Chatillon, 



1 66 DAVS NEAR PARIS 

killed at the taking of Charenton, 1649 ; and the Marquis 
de St. Maigrin, killed fighting in the Faubourg St. Antoine, 
1652 ; lastly, Turenne, whose body was removed to the In- 
valides by order of the first consul. 

Between August 6 and 8, 1793, fifty monuments were 
thrown down at St. Denis, but by the indefatigable energy 
of a single private cititzen, Alexandre Lenoir, the greater 
part of the statues and several of the tombs in stone and 
marble were preserved, and removed to a Musee des 
Monuments Frangais at Paris. The monuments in metal 
were almost all melted down, though they included the 
precious recumbent statue of Charles le Chauve, the 
tomb of Marguerite de Provence, the mausoleum of 
Charles VIII., and the effigy of the Sire de Barbazan, 
signed by Jean Morant, founder at Paris. At the same 
time the royal coffins were rifled of silver-gilt crowns, 
sceptres, hands of justice, rings, brooches, the distaffs of 
two queens, and many precious stuffs. 

A royal ordinance of December, 18 16, ordered the 
closing of the historical museum, and the restoration to 
the churches of such fragments of tombs as were pre- 
served. A number of monuments from the abbeys of St. 
Genevieve, St. Germain des Pres, and Royaumont ; from 
the convents of the Cordeliers, Jacobins, Celestins, and 
other religious orders, were then sent to St. Denis with 
those which had originally belonged to the church. Only 
such tombs as were too large to be placed in the crypt 
were left above ground ; the rest were arranged in the 
vaults, where they continued till the restoration of the 
monuments of St. Denis to their original site was begun 
by Viollet-le-Duc, and the effigies brought from other sites 
placed as near as possible to the tombs of those with 
whom they were connected. 



MONUMENTS OF ST. DENIS 167 

According to present arrangements, the monumental 
treasures of St. Denis may be glanced at, but they cannot 
be seen. Every half-hour (except i p.m.) on week days, 
and between 3.30 and 5.30 on Sundays, parties of ten are 
formed and hurried full-gallop round the church under the 
guardianship of a jabbering custode, who is unable to 
answer any question out of the regular routine, allows no 
one to linger except over the XIX. c. monuments, which 
he greatly admires, and is chiefly occupied by the " Gentle- 
men and ladies, please remember your guide," at the end 
of the survey. Wooden barriers prevent any one from 
approaching the tombs, so little is gained beyond a con- 
sciousness that they are there. As the tombs are always 
shown from the left, we follow that course here. 

At the end of the open part of the left aisle of the nave 
is the little Chapelle de la Trinite. It contains the tombs 
of Charles de Valois, Comte d^Alencon, 1346, and his wife 
Marie d'Espagne, 1379, brought hither from the great 
church of the Jacobins at Paris. Charles de Valois fell 
in the battle of Crecy: his shield, sword, and baldrick 
were formerly covered with enamelled copper like those 
of the Earl of Cornwall in Westminster Abbey. 

In the same chapel is the tomb of Leo?i de Lusig?ian, 
King of Armenia, Y-^^Zi ^^ho died at Paris and was buried 
with great magnificence by Charles VI, in the church of 
the Celestins, whence his monument was brought here. 
His statue lies on the spot where tradition says that Christ 
entered the church to consecrate it in person. 

Passing the barrier, the Chapelle de St. Hippolyte on the 
left — open towards the aisle — is devoted to the family of 
Valois or of St. Louis. The first group of monuments in 
point of date is that of Philippe., brother of St. Louis ; Louis, 
eldest son of St. Louis, 1260 ; Louis and Philippe, sons of 



1 68 DA YS NEAR PARIS 

Pierre^ Comte d^Alen^on, and grandsons of St. Louis, XIII. c. 
All these were originally buried in the abbey which St. 
Louis founded at Royaumont, and were brought hither on 
its suppression in 1791. The figures of the brother and 
son of St. Louis rest on tombs surrounded by niches full 
of figures. Those on the tomb of Prince Louis represent 
the funeral procession which accompanied his remains to 
Royaumont. Henry III. of England, who was at that 
time at Paris, was amongst those who carried the coffin, 
and is thus represented in a relief at the foot of the tomb. 
The two Alengon children died in infancy, and lie on the 
same tomb, divided into two niches ; but this tomb is a 
copy, the original, with that of a child of Philippe, Comte 
d'Artois, 1291, also from Royaumont, is in the "magasin" 
of the church ! Charles d^AnJou, King of Sicily and Jeru- 
salem, 1285, brother of St. Louis, is buried at Naples, with 
a magnificent monument, but his heart was brought to the 
church of the Jacobins at Paris, where his great-grand- 
daughter, Queen Clemence de Hongrie, erected (1326) the 
tomb which we now see here ; his right hand holds a 
sword, and his left a heart. Blanche, third daughter of St. 
Louis, 1320, married Ferdinand, eldest son of Alfonso X. 
of Castile, but returned to France after his death, and 
died in the convent of the Cordeliers in the Faubourg St. 
Marcel, which she had founded, whence her tomb was 
brought hither. She is represented in extreme youth. 
Lotds, Comte d'Evreux, 13 19, son of Philippe le Hardi, 
and his wife. Marguerite d'Artois, 13 11, were buried in the 
church of the Jacobins at Paris, whence their monument 
was brought here. The figure of the Countess is one of 
the best mediaeval statues known— both as to expression 
and costume : at her feet two little dogs play with some 
oak-leaves. Charles, Comte de Valois, 1325, third son of 



THE ROYAL TOMBS 169 

Philippe le Hardi, and chief of the royal branch of Valois, 
was also brought hither from the church of the Jacobins, 
his second wife, Catherine de Cotcrtenay, 1307 (daughter 
of Philippe, titular Emperor of Constantinople; from whom 
she inherited the title of empress), was brought to St. 
Denis from the monastery of Maubuisson : her statue has 
the peculiarity of being in black marble. Clemence de 
Ho7igrie, 1328, second wife of Louis X.^, and daughter of 
Charles Martel (d'Anjou), King of Hungary, was brought 
hither from the Jacobins. The effigies of Blanche d^ Evreux^ 
second queen of Philippe VI., 1398, and their daughter 
jfeamie de Fra?tce, 137 1, rest on the spot which their tomb 
formerly occupied in the centre of the Chapelle St. Hippo- 
lyte, but the original black-marble tomb surrounded by 
twenty-four statuettes of the ancestors of Blanche d'Evreux 
is destroyed. The queen had formerly a metal crown. 
Jeanne de France died at Beziers on her way to marry 
Jean d'Aragon, Due de Gironne, but was brought for 
burial to St. Denis. The statue erect against a pillar is 
that of a Prioress of Poissy, Marie de Bourboft, 1402, 
daughter of Pierre I., Due de Bourbon, and sister-in-law of 
King Charles V. She received the veil in her fourth 
year. Her effigy remained till the last century in the con- 
ventual church of St. Louis de Poissy, attached to a pillar. 

On the right of the aisle is the pillar in honor of Car- 
dinal Louis de Bourbo?t, 1557 (son of Francois de Bourbon, 
Comte de Vendome, and Marie de Luxembourg), arch- 
bishop of Sens and abbot of St. Denis. He is buried at 
Laon, which was one of his five bishoprics, but his heart 
was brought hither. The pillar formerly bore a kneeling 
statue of the cardinal. 

Close to this, but inside the choir, is the red-marble 
twisted column in memory of Henri III., 1 589, assassin- 



1^0 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



ated at St. Cloud, and first buried at the abbey of St. 
Corneille de Compeigne, whence his remains were brought 
hither in 1610, to be buried in the chapel of the Valois. 

Now, on the right, we see, restored to their original 
position between the choir and the transept, four tombs 
bearing statues — Robert le Pieux, 1031, and Constance 
d' Aries, 1032, daughter of Guillaume, Comte de Provence; 
Henri /., 1060, founder of St. Martin les Champs, and 
Louis VI., 1 13 7; Philippe le Jeune, eldest son of Louis 
VI., 1 131 (who was crowned in the lifetime of his father, 
1 129, and was killed by a fall from his horse), and Con- 
stance de Castille, 1160, daughter of Alphonso VIII. , who 
married Louis VII. after his divorce from Eleanor of 
Aquitaine ; Carloman, 771, king of Austrasia, and brother 
of Charlemagne, who died at twenty-one, and Ermentrude, 
869, first wife of Charles le Chauve. All this series be- 
longs to the effigies erected by St. Louis to the memory of 
his ancestors in the XIII. c. Near these are the tombs of 
Louis X, le Hutin, 13 16, who died at Vincennes; the 
charming little effigy oijean Z, 13 16, son of Louis X., who 
was born at the Louvre four months after his father's 
death, and only lived five days ; and Jeafine de France, 
1349, eldest daughter of Louis X. and Marguerite de 
Bourgogne, wife of Philippe le Bon, king of Navarre. 
Further inside the choir are tombs copied from those 
originally existing in the abbey of Royaumont, and sup- 
porting effigies brought from thence oijean Trista7i and 
Blanche, children of St. Louis, in enamelled copper. 
Blanche died 1243 '> J^^i^? who accompanied his father to 
the Crusades, died before him on the coast of Africa in 
1247. 

On the left, on either side of the entrance to the north 
transept, are statues brought from Notre Dame de Corbeil 



THE ROYAL TOMBS 



171 



— a king and queen, which have been long regarded, but 
with much uncertainty, as representing Clovis and Clotilde. 
Hard by is the splendid tomb of Louis XII., 15 15, and 
his second wife, Anne de Bretagne, 1514, executed at Tours 
by Jean Juste. ^ A large square base supports an edifice 
pierced by twelve arches, within which the royal pair are 
represented as skeletons, whilst above they kneel, as in 
life, with joined hands before a prie-dieu, in statues which 
are supposed to be portraits of the utmost fidelity. Statues 
of Fortitude, Justice, Prudence, and Temperance are seated 
at the angles ; between the arches are statues of the apos- 
tles, and on the base are four bas-reliefs of wonderful 
workmanship, representing the campaigns of the king in 
Italy. In this monument, says Liibke, " French sculpture 
attained its classical perfection." 

" On the burying-place of Louis XII. and Queen Anne, King 
Francis, their son-in-law and successor, erected a sumptuous 
mausoleum of fine white marble two stories high, which is one of 
the finest, not to say the finest, piece of work in Europe. There 
is a tomb in this mausoleum in which lie the bodies of the king 
and queen in leaden coffins, as sound and whole as when they 
were placed there. On that of the king, at the head, there is a 
crown of gilt copper, formed like an imperial crown, and on that 
of his wife a simple ducal crown. At the feet of the two coffins 
are their epitaphs engraved on plates of tin." — Germai7z Millet, 
XVII . c. 

" Faithful to his promises, the first observer of the laws he 
gave, a foe to intrigue and quibbling, loving to take counsel of 
learned men, and rejecting that vanity which is common to so 
many sovereigns, which believes that omniscience is united to 
omnipotence, Louis was truly a good king." — Touchard-Lafosse, 
" Hist, de Paris." 

The next great monument, of Henri II., 1559, and 
Catherine de Mcdicis, 1589, is the masterpiece of Germain 

^ In 1531, Francis I. commissioned Cardinal Duprat to pay Jean Juste of 
Tours for the monument of the " feu roy Loys et royne Anne." 



172 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



Pilon. It formerly occupied the centre of a magnificent 
chapel of its own, destroyed in 17 19, when it was trans- 
ferred to the north transept. The royal pair are again 
here represented twice — below, in the sleep of death, the 
queen beautiful as at the time of the death of her husband, 
whom she survived thirty years; above, kneeling in royal 




TOMB OP LOUIS XII. ST. DENIS. 



robes. The bas-reliefs of the stylobate represent Faith, 
Hope, Charity, and Good Works. 

"The Cavaliero Bernini admired the tomb of the Valois, he 
who could find nothing passable in France." — Sauval, '' An- 
tiqtiith de Paris''' 

Near the tomb of Henri II. is that of Guillaume du 
Chastel, 1441, "panetier du roi," killed at the siege of 
Pontoise, and buried here by Charles VII. on account of 
his grea^ valor and services to the state. He is repre- 
sented in complete armor. 



THE ROYAL TOMBS 173 

Beyond this, in the Chapelle Notre Dame la Blanche^ 
are three tombs. The first bears the effigies of Philippe K, 
le Long^ 1322 ; his brother, Charles IV., le Bel, 1328, with 
his wife, Jeanne d^Evreux, 137 1, long his survivor. The 
second is that of Blanche de France, 1392, daughter of 
Charles IV., and wife of Philippe, Due d'Orleans, fifth 
son of Philippe de Valois. The third effigy represents 
Jean II., le Bon, who was taken prisoner at the battle of 
Poitiers, and died at the Savoy in London, 1364.^ It was 
to this chapel that Queen Jeanne d'Evreux gave the 
image of the Virgin which is now at Paris, in the church 
of St. Germain des Pres. 

On the right of the stairs ascending to the sanctuary, 
between them and the choir, are the cenotaph monuments 
of Clovis I, 511, and his son Childebert I., 558. The 
statue of Clovis, of XII. c, comes from a tomb which 
occupied the centre of a (now destroyed) church which he 
founded under the name of the Saints- Apotres, and which 
afterwards took that of St. Genevieve. The king has the 
long hair and beard of the Merovingian race. The statue 
of Childebert I. comes from his tomb in the centre of the 
choir of the church which he founded in honor of St. Vin- 
cent, afterwards St. Germain des Pres.^ 

Ascending the steps, we find, on the right, the tomb of 
a prince, supposed to be a Comte de Dreux, from the church 
of the Cordeliers : the epitaph was destroyed in a fire at 
the monastery in 1580. Close by is an Unknown Princess, 
supposed to represent Blanche, daughter of Charles IV. 

On the left, in the Chapelle St. Eustache, the second 

^ An authentic portrait of Jean le Bon, on wood, was, till recently, pre- 
served at the Sainte Chapelle. 

2 Three sculptured gravestones placed by the Benedictines of St. Germain 
des Pres over the g:raves of Clotaire II., his wife Bertrude. and Childeric II., 
have been left neglected in the " magasin " of St, Denis, 



I J- 4 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

quadrangular chapel of the apse, we are surprised to find 
Henri II. and Catherine de Medicis, a second time, lying 
on a bronze bed. The statues are splendid works of Ger- 
main Pilon, and were only brought to St. Denis in 1589, 
after the death of Catherine de Medicis. Behind this 
tomb is the kneeling statue of Marie de Bourbon, 1538, 
which once existed, with that of her sister Catherine, in 
the abbey of Notre Dame de Soissons, of which the latter 
was abbess. They were daughters of Charles de Bourbon, 
Due de Vendome, and sisters of Antoine de Bourbon, 
father of Henri IV. Marie was betrothed, in 1535, to James 
V. of Scotland, but died before her marriage could take 
place. On this spot formerly stood the monument of Tu- 
renne, now at the Invalides. 

The seven semicircular chapels of the chevet are dedi- 
cated to St. Osmanne, St. Maurice, St. Peregrin, the Vir- 
gin, St. Cucuphas, St. Eugene, and St. Hilaire. A num- 
ber of ancient inscriptions, and some sepulchral stones of 
abbots of St. Denis, have been placed in these chapels. 

On the south side of the Sanctuary, but behind the 
high-altar, inserted in a modern altar-tomb, is the curious 
mosaic tomb of Fredego?ide, wife of Chilperic L, 597. The 
queen — who, amongst many others, murdered her brother- 
in-law, stepson, husband, and the bishop Pretextatus at 
the altar — is represented with crown and sceptre, and royal 
mantle. The tomb comes from St. Germain des Pr^s. 

The Sacristy is adorned with modern paintings relating 
to the history of the abbey. In an adjoining room is the 
Treasury, now of little interest. 

To the south of the high-altar, the side of the Epistle, 
has been restored the tomb of Dagobert, 638, long exiled 
to the porch of the nave. This king died in the Abbey of 
St. Denis. His gothic monument is probably due to St. 



THE ROYAL TOMBS 175 

Louis. A modern statue has been copied from the frag- 
ments broken at the Revolution. At the sides of the arch 
are the statues of JVantilde, wife of Dagobert, and Clovis 
II., their son. The relief behind represents the legend 
that, when Dagobert was dying, St. Denis appeared on the 
shore of Sicily to a holy hermit named John, bidding him 
arise instantly and pray for the departing king. He had 
scarcely obeyed when he beheld, on the neighboring sea, a 
boat full of demons, who were flogging the king as he lay 
bound at the bottom of the vessel. The soul is repre- 
sented as a naked figure crowned. Dagobert was crying 
for help to his three favorite saints — Denis, Maurice, and 
Martin. Forthwith the three saints appeared in the midst 
of a mighty tempest, and snatched their servant from the 
hands of his oppressors, and as they bore him, sustained 
on a sheet, to celestial spheres, the hermit heard them sing- 
ing the words of Psalm Ixv., " Blessed is the man whom 
thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he 
may dwell in thy courts." Guillaume de Nangis, who nar- 
rates the vision of the hermit John, in his XIII. c. chroni- 
cle, adds : 

" Et se ne me croyez, allez a Sainct Denis en France, en 
I'eglise, et regardez devant I'autel ou len chante tons les jours la 
grant messe, la ou le roy Dagobet gist. La verrez-vous au-dessus 
de luy ce que vous ay dit, pourtraict et de noble euvre richement 
enluminee." 

A seated wooden statue of the Virgin, near the tomb of 
Dagobert, comes from the church of St. Martin des Champs 
at Paris. Descending the steps of the sanctuary, we find on 
the left four tombs bearing statues to Pepin, 768, who was 
buried near the high-altar, with the good queen Berthe, 
.783; and to Louis III., 883, and Carloma?t, 884, sons of 
Louis II. The latter was killed at eighteen, in hunting, by 



176 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

the carelessness of one of his servants, and died refusing 
to give his name, that he might not be punished \ his ad- 
mirable statue is full of youthful grace. 

Here is the entrance to the Crypt, of which the walled- 
in central part, a relic of the XL c, has served since the 
time of Henri IV. as a burial-place for the princes and prin- 
cesses of the blood royal. It now contains the coffins of 
Louis XVL, Marie Antoinette, Louis XVIIL, Mesdames 
Adelaide and Victoire de France (brought from Trieste, 
where they died), Charles Ferdinand, Due de Berry, and 
two of his children, who died in infancy, Louis Joseph, 
Prince de Conde, and Louis Henri Joseph, Due de Bour- 
bon, father of the Due d'Enghien. Here also are Louis 
VIL, brought from the Abbey of Barbeau near Melun, and 
Louise de Lorraine, wife of Henri III., brought from the 
church of the Capucins at Paris. In a walled-up chapel at 
the end of the crypt aisle — Le Caveau de Turenne — have 
been placed all the remains of earlier kings and queens 
which were exhumed from the trench into which they were 
thrown at the Revolution. In the eastern chapel are kneel- 
ing figures by Gaulle and Petitot to Louis XVL and Marie 
Antoinette. In another chapel is a monument to Louis 
XVLLL, by Valois, and a relief to Louis XVLL. In a third, 
a relief commemorates Madame Louise, daughter of Louis 
XV., who died a nun at St. Denis. In a fourth is a statue 
of Charlemagne by Gois, made by order of Napoleon I.; 
in a fifth a monumental statue to Diane de Prance, 1619^ 
Duchesse d'Angouleme et de Montmorency, brought from 
the Minimes of the Place Royale. On the wall to the 
south is a bust of Louis XL. A passage containing four 
huge statues of Religion, Courage, France, and Paris, by 
Cortot and Dupaty, intended for the tomb of the Due de 
Berry, murdered 1820, leads to an inner crypt. Here are 



THE CRYPT lyy 

tombs to Henri IV., Louis XIII. and Anne of Austria ; 
Louis XIV., and Marie Tkerese, and Louis XV. The reliefs 
placed over the burial-place of the heart of Louis XIII. 
were brought from the Grands-Jesuites (Sts. Paul et Louis) 
at Paris, and are the work of Jacques Sarazin. Here also 
a tomb bears medallions to Mesdames Adelaide and Vic- 
toire and their niece, AIada?ne Elizabeth, the brave and 
saintly sister of Louis XVI. The Caveau Imperial, which 
Napoleon III. made to receive his dynasty, is quite un- 
tenanted. 

Returning to the upper church, we find on the left the 
Chapelle de St. yean-Baptiste or des Coniietables, which con- 
tains the very interesting tomb of Bertrand Duguesclin, 
Comte de Longueville and Constable of France, who died 
in 1380 before the walls of Chateauneuf de Rangon. 

" ' Messire Bertrand jura que jamais ne partiroit d'illec qu'il 
n'eut le chatel a son plaisir. Mais une maladie le prit, dont il 
accoucha au lit ; pour ce ne se defit mie du siege ; mais ses gens 
en furent plus aigres que devant" (Froissart). The Marechal de 
Sancerre informed the English governor, in the name of Du Gues- 
clin, that all the garrison would be put to the sword if it was taken 
by assault. The hostile leader capitulated, and brought the keys 
of the castle to Messire Bertrand ; he found him stretched on his 
death-bed. The good constable collected the remains of his 
forces to receive this trophy of his conquest, and gave up the 
ghost a few moments afterwards, at the age of sixty-six." — Mar- 
tin, "'Hist, de France." 

** Decimam Gallorum ex gente figuram, 
Militis insignis Claschina, prole Britanna 
Nati, Bertrandi, quo nullus major in armis 
Tempestate sua fuit, aut praestantior omni 
Virtute, et toto fama praeclarior orbe." 

Antoine Astesan, 145 1. 

The funeral oration of Bertrand Duguesclin in 1580 is 
the first example of a funeral oration pronounced in a 



ijS BAYS NEAR PARIS 

church. ^ A white marble statue commemorates the Con- 
stable Louis de Sancerre, 1402, brother-in-arms of Ber- 
trand Duguesclin and Olivier de Clisson. "'Enfants,' 
disait-il a ses gens lorsqu'ils allaient en guerre, ' en 
quelque etat qu'un homme se trouve, il doit toujours faire 
son honneur.' " 

Near Duguesclin, two months later, was laid the king 
he served, Charles V., k Sage, 1380 — whose characteristic 
statue reposes on a modern tomb of black marble, with 
that of his queen jfeamie de Bourbon^ 137 7> daughter of 
Pierre I., Due de Bourbon, who was killed at Poitiers. 
The statue of the queen was brought from the church of 
the Celestins at Paris, where her entrails were buried, as 
is indicated in the figure, by the bag in its hands, which is 
supposed to contain them. From the same church were 
brought two niches containing statues of Charles V. and 
Jeanne, which formerly decorated the portal, destroyed in 
1847. 

Another modern tomb bears the remarkable effigies — 
apparently portraits — of C/ia?ies VI., 1422, who died 
insane, and his wicked wife Isaheau de Baviere, 1435. -^^^^ 
crowned head bears a double veil, the upper fastened to 
the lower by long pins. This hated queen was brought 
to St. Denis in a boat by night, unattended — " ni plus ni 
moins qu'une simple demoiselle." ^ A third tomb, almost 
similar to the two last, commemorates Charles VII., 146 1, 
and his wife, Marie d^Anjou, 1463, daughter of Louis II., 
king of Naples. 

Against the wall of this chapel, the burial-place of 
Charles V., have been placed two curious sculptured slabs 
commemorating the Battle of B olivines, 12 14, brought from 
the church of St. Catherine du Val-des-Ecoliers, founded 

^ Saint-Foix, Essais hist, sur Paris. * Brantome. 



THE ROYAL TOMBS 179 

by the sergeants-at-arms in thanksgiving for that victory, 
the Confraternity of Sergeants-at-arms owing its foundation 
to Charles V. The inscriptions on these curious monu- 
ments tell how St. Louis laid the first stone of the church 
of St. Catherine as a thank-offering for the victory of Bou- 
vines, "Les sergents d'armes, qui gardaient le pont, 
avaient promis une eglise ^ Madame Sainte Catherine, si 
Dieu leur donnait victoire, et ainsi fut-il." The first of the 
slabs bears one of the earliest known representations of 
St. Louis. 

To the wall of the transept is removed the beautiful 
canopied tomb erected^ in the church of the Celestins at 
Paris, by Frangoise d'Alengon, to her seven-years-old 
child, Renke d' Orleans LoJigueville, 15 15, daughter of Fran- 
cois II., Due de Longueville, who died in the abbatial 
hotel of St. Genevieve. The crowned effigy of the child, 
holding a rosary, rests upon a slab of black marble sup- 
ported on a sarcophagus, decorated with statuettes of 
virgin saints. Above are other virgin 'patronesses — the 
Madonna, Margaret, Catherine, Barbara, and Genevieve 
bearing a lighted taper, which a devil tries to extinguish 
and an angel to keep alight. 

Descending the church, we now come on the right to 
another group of tombs. That of Isabelle d'Aragon^ 12 71, 
daughter of James I., king of Aragon, who died from a 
fall from her horse while crossing a river at Cosenza in 
Calabria, bears her white marble effigy with two little dogs 
at her feet. Around, in white-marble letters inlaid in the 
black, is the most ancient rhythmical inscription at St. 

Denis : — 

*' Dysabel lame ait paradys 

Dom li cors gist sovz ceste ymage 
Fame av roi philippe ia dis 
Fill lovis roi mort en cartage 



i8o I^A VS NEAR PARIS 

Le jovr de sainte agnes seconde 
Lan mil CC. dis et soisente 
A cvsance fv morte av raonde 
Vie sanz fin dexli consente." 

The tomb of Philippe le Hardi^ 1285, who died at Per- 
pignan, bears an effigy which is supposed to be the earliest 
authentic royal portrait-statue at St. Denis. Close by is 
the monument of Philippe IV.^ le Bel, 1314? with a well- 
preserved but mannered statue. Behind are the tombs of 
Clovis 11. , 656, son of Dagobert I. and Nantilde, and 
husband of St. Bathilde (buried at Chelles) ; and Charles 
Martel, 741, son of Pepin d'Herstall, famous for his 
victories over the Saracens, who held the title of Maire in 
the palace of the Francs, or of " Due des Frangais." 

On the left side of the transept door is buried Suger, 
the great abbot of St. Denis, who built the greater part of 
the church, and governed France during the crusade of 
Louis VII. 

We now reach, on the left, the magnificent tomb of 
Frangois /, 1547, and his wife Claude de France, 152 1, one 
of the most perfect masterpieces of renaissance archi- 
tecture and sculpture in France, designed by Philibert 
Delorme, with royal effigies by Jean Goujon, and exquisite 
sculptured details by Germain Pilon, Pierre Bontemps, 
Ambroise Perret, Jacques Chantrel, Bastien Galles, Pierre 
Bigoigne, and Jean de Bourges. The tomb is an edifice 
of white marble — of which the east and west facades are 
adorned, each with twent}"-one reliefs representing the 
campaigns of the king, with the battles of Marignan and 
Cerisoles. Within the open arches, Frangois — a sublime 
dead warrior — and Claude (who died at twenty-one), a 
gentle, melancholy girl, are seen lying in death. On the 
platform above they are represented a second time, kneel- 



THE ROVAL TOMBS 



i8r 



ing in life, with their children behind them — Charlotte de 
France, who died at eight years, the dauphin Francois, and 
Charles, Due d'Orleans. 

"They exhibit dignity, simplicity, and repose, and the 
greatest nobleness of conception ; the wide and yet unpretend- 
ing garments fall in a noble manner, and the finely-characterized 
heads display great depth of expression." — Lilbke. 

Under one of the arches of the wall arcade is the 
figure, brought from the church of the Jacobins in Paris, of 
Beatrix de Bourbon, 1383, Queen of Bohemia, daughter of 
Louis I., Due de Bourbon, and great-granddaughter of St. 
Louis, whose first husband v/as Jean de Luxembourg, 
King of Bohemia, killed upon the battle-field of Crecy, 
and who afterwards married Eudes, lord of Grancey in 
Burgundy. 

Behind the tomb of Frangois I. and Claude, in the 
chapel of St. Michel, is the exquisite urn, sculptured by 
Pierre Bontemps, to contain the heart of Fran9ois I., which, 
after the death of the king at Rambouillet (March 31, 
1547), was taken to the abbey of Notre Dame de Hautes- 
Bruyeres. Close to the urn, on its ancient site, is the 
effigy of Princess Marguerite, 1382, daughter of Philippe 
le Long, and wife of Louis, Comte de Flandre, killed at 
the battle of Crecy. She died at the age of seventy- 
two, having endowed the chapel, where she was buried. 
Much more of the original tomb remains in the magasin 
of the church. 

Near the aisle is the tomb of Charles, Comte d^Etampes, 
1336, son of Louis, Comte d'Evreux, brought from the 
church of the Cordeliers at Paris, where it occupied a 
place behind the high- altar. 

The group of monuments behind was originally erected 
by Louis XII., the son of Charles, Due d'Orleans, to his 



I82 



DA V3 NEAR PAkiS 



father, uncle, grandfather, and grandmother, in the church 
of the Ce'lestins at Paris. The fragments were brought 
hither and restored. On a quadrangular base, surrounded 
by twenty-four niches, are the statues of Charles, Due d' Or- 
leans, 1465, and Philippe, Comie de Vertus, 1420. Between 
these figures rises a sarcophagus bearing the effigies — full 
of character — of their parents, Louis de France, Due d' Or- 
leans, 1407, second son of Charles V., and his wife Val- 
entine de Milan, 1408, from whom both Louis XII. and 
Francois I. descended. Twenty of the statuettes which 
surround the tomb are ancient. It was Louis d'OrMans 
who built the chateaux of Pierrefonds and la Ferte-Milon, 
and who was murdered in the Rue Barbette. Charles 
d'Orleans was the poet-duke, who languished as a prisoner 
at Windsor for twenty-five years after the battle of Agin- 
court. With these monuments at the Celestins was the 
urn of the little Due de Valois, 1656, with the touching 
inscription by his parents, the Due and Duchesse d'Or- 
leans : — 

" Blandulus, eximius, pulcher, dulcissimus infans, 
Deliciae matris, deliciaeque patris, 
Hie situs est teneris raptus Valesius annis, 
Ut rosa quae subitis imbribus icta cadit." 

The Magasins of the church still contain many pre- 
cious historic fragments, and it is much to be regretted 
that they are not all replaced in the upper church. A 
mutilated effigy, if original, or a fragment of a sepulchral 
canopy, would always have an interest which no later, 
though perfect, work can inspire. 

A modern copy near the high-altar commemorates the 
famous Oriflamme {aurijlamma — from its red and gold), 
the standard of St. Denis, which became the banner of the 
kings of France, and always accompanied them to the 



THE ROYAL TOMBS 183 

battle-field : its last appearance was on the field of Agin- 
court. The other precious objects which once filled the 
treasury of St. Denis, and which included the chair of 
Dagobert, the hand of Justice of St. Louis, the sword of 
Jeanne Dare, and the coronation robes of Louis XIV., all 
perished at the Revolution. Waxen effigies of the French 
kings were formerly to be seen here, as still at West- 
minster. 

' In a certain loft or higher roome of the church I saw the 
images of many of the French kings, set in certain woden cup- 
bords, whereof some were made onely to the middle with their 
crownes on their heads. But the image of the present king 
(Henri IV.) is made at length with his parliament roabes, his 
gowne lined with ermins, and his crowne on his head." — Coryafs 
^' Crudities.'^ 

The Abbey of St. Denis, ruled by a line of sixtj'-three 
abbots, several of whom were kings of France, has entirely 
disappeared. Mme de Maintenon appropriated its reve- 
nues for the institution of St. Cyr. A house of education 
for daughters of members of the Legion of Honor occupies 
the modern buildings. 

In the church called La Paroisse^ which was the chapel 
of the Carmelite convent, a grave is pointed out as that 
of Henriette d'Angleterre, youngest daughter of Charles I., 
and wife of Gaston d'Orleans, brother of Louis XIV. ; her 
body, however, was amongst those exhumed in the abbey 
church. 

In the Carmelite convent, Louise Marie de France, 
"Madame Louise," third daughter of Louis XV., took the 
veil in 1770; there she was constantly visited by her 
nephew, Louis XVI., and there she died, before the trou- 
bles of the Revolution, December 23, 1787. 

"A moment before her death, she cried, * It is time, then,' 



1^4 ^A y^ NEAR PARIS 

and a few instants afterwards, ' Come, let us rise, let us hasten 
to Paradise.' These were the last words pronounced by this 
saintly princess," — Proyart^ " Vie de Madame Louise,'' 



After a morning passed laboriously at St. Denis, a 
delightful afternoon may be spent in the forest of Mont- 
morency, returning to Paris in the evening. There is, how- 
ever, nothing especial to see, and the excursion is only 
worth while to those not pressed for time, who wish for a 
pleasant drive or walk in pretty country. Trains may be 
joined at St. Denis. They run every hour from the Gare 
du Nord to — 

\\\k. Enghien les Bains (Hotel des Quatre Pavilions), 
a village much frequented, since 1821, for its mineral wa- 
ters, with an artificial lake. Here trains are changed. 
The line then passes — 

Soisy, where James II. of England lived for a time, 
and planted a wood which bears his name. 

14^. Montmore7icy (Hotel de France; Cheval Blafic), 
where numbers of carriages, horses, and donkeys are wait- 
ing for excursions in the forest. This pretty place, famous 
for its cherries, has, from the X. c, given a name to one 
of the most illustrious families in France. Its chateau, 
with halls decorated by Lebrun and gardens by Lenotre, 
has perished, and most of the tombs of the Montmorency 
family in the Church were destroyed in the Revolution : 
that of the great Constable Anne — the brave warrior who 
served under five kings, fought in two hundred battles, and 
was unable to read — was broken up, and its fragments are 
now to be seen in the Musee of the Louvre, to which the 
portrait of Guillaume de Montmorency, which hung in the 
church, has also been removed. Between the Rue Notre 



MONTMORENCY ig^ 

Dame and the Rue de Paris are some remains of an old 
convent of the Templars. 

Turning to the left from the station, and following the 
boulevard to the end, we find, on the left, two groups of 
fine old chestnut trees. In front of the first of these, " La 
Chataigneraie,'^ are several restaurants \ in the second is a 
very ugly ruined house of three stories, with some doggerel 
verses on its face. This is the so-called " Hermitage " 
built for Jean-Jacques Rousseau by Mme d'Epinay, on a 
site where the hermit Leroy had built a cottage in 1659. 
Rousseau came to inhabit it April 9, 1756, and wrote his 
Nouvelle Helo'ise there. He thus describes his retreat, to 
M. de Malesherbes : — 

"What time, would you believe, sir, I recall most frequently 
and most willingly in my dreams? It is the pleasures of my 
retreat, it is my lonely walks, it is the quick passing yet delight- 
ful days, that I have passed with myself, with my good and 
simple housekeeper, with my beloved dog, with my old cat, with 
the birds of the fields and the fawns of the forests ; with absolute 
nature and her author, who is beyond all conception. Rising 
before the sun, to go and see and contemplate his rising in my 
garden, when I saw a fine day begin, my first wish was that 
neither letters nor visits should come to break its chaim. . . . 
I hurried through dinner to escape importunate guests. Be- 
fore one o'clock, in even the most scorching days, I set out, in 
full sunshine, with my faithful Achates hurrying on, in the dread 
that some one might come and seize me before I had been able 
to get away ; but, once that I had doubled a certain corner, with 
what thrills of joy did I begin to breathe as I found myself saved, 
saying to myself, ' Now I am my own master for the rest of the 
day ! ' I then went, with a more tranquil step, to seek some wild 
spot in the forest .... some asylum to which I could fancy I 
had been the first to penetrate, and where no importunate third 
person could come to interpose between nature and me. It was 
here that she seemed to unfold to my eyes a magnificence ever 
new. The gold of the broom and the purple of the heather 
struck my eyes with a luxuriance which touched my heart ; the 
majesty of the trees that covered me with their shade, the deli- 



ig6 jyA YS NEAR PARIS 

cacy of the shrubs that engirt me, the astonishing variety of 
the trees and the flowers I trod beneath my feet, kept my spirit in 
a continual alternation of observation and admiration ; the 
assemblage of so many interesting objects that disputed for my 
attention, attracting me ceaselessly from one to another, favored 
my dreamy, idle humor, and made me often repeat inwardly, 
' No, Solomon, in all his glory, was never clad like one of 
these.' . . . 

" So passed away, in a continual delirium, the most charm- 
ing days that ever human creature has passed ; and when the set- 
ting of the sun made me think of retiring, astonished at the 
quick flight of time, I believed I had not profited sufficiently by 
my day." 

The hermitage, becoming national property at the Rev- 
olution, passed into the hands of Robespierre, who slept 
there only three days before his execution. In 1798, the 
house was bought by the musical composer Gretry, who 
wrote there his six volumes of Reflexions d^un solitaire, 
and died in 18 13. His heart was buried in the garden, 
but afterwards removed. 

One of the old chestnut trees in front of the house is 
especially shown as having been planted by Rousseau. 
When he left the hermitage in Dec. 15, 1757, he moved to 
the house called Le Petit St. Louis, where he finished the 
Nouvelle Heloise, and stayed till April 9, 1762. A stone 
table on its terrace bore a copper plate, inscribed — 

" C'est ici qu'un grand homme a passe ses beaux jours ; 
Vingt chefs-d'oeuvre divers en ont marque le cours ; 
C'est ici que sont nes et Saint Preux et Julie, 
Et cette simple pierre est I'autel du g6nie." 

The first turn on the left of the boulevard after leaving 
the station, and then the first turn to the right, takes us 
into the Foret de Mo7itmorency. After emerging from the 
village, the main road follows a terrace on the hillside, 
with a beautiful view over Paris, the plain, and the low- 



GROLA V l8y 

wooded hills. At 3 k. is Andilly^ once the property of the 
famous Arnaud d'iVndilly, who sold it when he retired to 
Port-Royal. Half an hour's walk from hence, through the 
forest, leads to the XIV. c. Chateau de la Chasse, once 
moated and surrounded by four towers, of which two 
remain. A little north-west of this is the valley of St. 
Radegonde, so called from a chapel belonging to the 
abbey of Chelles. It was here that the minister Roland 
took refuge in the Revolution, before, he fled to Rouen. 
The village of Grolay {\\ >^.), where the church has good 
stained glass, is another spot which may be visited from 
Montmorency. 



VII. 

ST. LEU TAVERN Y, THE ABBA YE DU VAL, AND 

PONTOISE. 

THIS is a delightful summer day's excursion from the 
Gare du Nord. Tickets must be taken to St. Leu 
Taverny, thence to Meriel, thence to Pontoise. 

\Z.k, St. Leu Taverfiy (Hotel, Croix Blanche). — The 
modern church faces the station, at the end of a road lined 
by villas. (The sacristan is to be found at No. 12 Grande 
Rue.) Behind the altar is the stately tomb of Louis Bona- 
parte, King of Holland, who died at Leghorn, desiring to 
be brought hither to rest by the two sons who had died 
before him. Below the king's statue are busts of his father 
and his two sons ; on either side are statues — Faith and 
Charity. In the crypt beneath are four huge sarcophagi, 
of equal size, though the elder boy, Napoleon, died at five 
years old. The death of the second boy, Louis, at Forli, 
was a terrible affliction to Napoleon I. and Josephine. 

"This child would have been, had he lived, a very dis- 
tinguished man. He was extraordinarily like his father, and 
consequently like the Emperor. He was a charming child, with 
a goodness and firmness of character that equally spoke of a 
moral resemblance with his uncle." — ''Mhuoires de la Duchesse 
d'Abranth." 

Opposite the sarcophagus of King Louis is that of his 
father, Charles Bonaparte, who died at Montpelier. 



ST. LEU TAVERN Y 189 

A chapel, which belonged to an older church, contains 
the tomb of Mme le Broc, niece of the famous Mme 
Campan, who fell from a precipice whilst visiting a water- 
fall near Aix les Bains, in the presence of her sister, Mare- 
chale Ney, and of Queen Hortense, to whom she was 
lady-in-waiting. The queen herself is buried with Joseph- 
ine at Rueil. 

St. Leu Taverny once possessed two famous chateaux. 
One of these belonged to the Due d'Orleans, whose chil- 
dren were educated there by Mme de Genlis. The other 
had been inhabited by the Constable Mathieu de Mont- 
morency. The grounds of the chateaux were united by 
Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon L, and that of 
Montmorency pulled down. The other chateau became a 
palace and gave the title of Comte de St. Leu to King 
Louis after he abdicated the throne of Holland j after his 
separation from Queen Hortense, St. Leu was made a 
duchy for her. After the second Restoration, the Prince 
de Conde, Due de Bourbon, bought St. Leu, and was 
found hanged to the cord of the window, August 28, 1830. 
He bequeathed St. Leu to his mistress, Mme de Feucheres, 
who sold it, and the chateau was pulled down in 1835. 

Five minutes' walk from the church (turning to the left 
from the door_, and again to the left by the Rue du Cha- 
teau) on the site of his chateau, is a garden with a cypress 
avenue and a cross in memory of the Due de Bourbon. 

"The Duke de Bourbon was hanging from the fastening of the 
north window, by two handkerchiefs passed one through the 
other ; the first forming a flat elongated ring, the second, an oval, 
the lower part of which supported the lower jaw, and ended be- 
hind the head on the top. The handkerchief, intended to choke, 
had not a running noose, it did not press the artery, left the nape 
visible, and was so loose that between the folds and the head 
some of the spectators could easily insert their fingers. . . . 



190 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



This arrangement and the appearance of the body, strongly re- 
futed the hypothesis of suicide. They struck with surprise most 
of the witnesses." — Louis Blanc, " Hist, de dix a7isj' 

Taveniy, 2 k. from St. Leu, has a church, partly XIII. c. 
The Hne runs through cherry orchards to — 

24 k. Mery. The church contains several spoils of the 
Abbaye du Val — a XV. c. pulpit, an XVIII. c. lectern, 
four stalls, and some tombs, especially those of Charles 




ABBAYE DU VAL. 



Villiers of ITsle-Adam, Bishop of Beauvais, and of Charles 
de Montmorency and his third wife, Peronnelle du Villiers. 
The sanctuary is XIII. c, except the vaulting. Behind is 
a chateau built by Pierre d'Orgemont, Chancellor of 
France, at the end of the XIV. c. 

28/^. Meriel, whence it is 2 k. to the Abbaye du Val. 
Turn to the left from the station, under the railway ; then 
take the first turning to the left, where a tramway crosses 
the road. On reaching a cross in the cornfields, turn to 
the right, and, in the next wooded hollow, find the gate of 
the enclosure of the Abbaye du Val, which was founded 



ABBAYE DU VAL i^l 

1 1 25, and was a favorite resort of the kings of France. In 
1646 it was united with the Monastery of the Feuillants at 
Paris. Sold at the Revolution, it has since been partially 
demolished for the sake of its materials. Still, there are 
huge remains. The existing buildings include the east 
corridor of the cloister, with several vaulted halls, of which 
the pillars are partially buried, on the ground floor, includ- 
ing the chapter-house and refectory of late XII. c. On 
the first floor is the ancient dormitory, a vast vaulted gothic 
hall, divided into two aisles by eight columns with sculpt- 
ured capitals. The divisions of the cells are marked by 
the windows, each monk having one. Near the south 
gable of this dormitory stood the church, of which the 
walls of the apse and some pillars on the south have been 
unearthed. To the west of the cloister are several low 
vaulted gothic halls, a staircase of the XIII. c, and a ves- 
tibule rebuilt in the XVII. c. Opposite the farm stood 
the palace of the abbot, of which only the foundations re- 
main. On the ground floor of an adjacent building, the 
lavatory of the monks remains, on the line of the stream 
Vieux-Moutier ; on the first floor is a gallery of the XV. c; 
under ground is a gallery communicating from the 
lavatory with the cellar and ice-house of XIII. c. The 
very picturesque moidin d^e7i haut (threatened with de- 
struction, 1887) has perfectly-preserved buildings of the 
XV. c, on the brook Vieux-Moutier, of which the source 
is not far distant. 

One of the high officials of the first empire, Comte 
Regnault de Saint-Jean-d'Angely, transformed the abbey 
into a chateau, and raised a colossal statue of Napoleon I. 
in the park ; but all his works have already perished. 

Pedestrians will walk across to the station of Auvers, 
on the opposite line, or one may go on from Meriel to the 



192 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



next station of Valmondois^ and there wait for a train going 
south to — 

2i2i k. (from Paris), Auvers. — The noble cruciform 
church, situated on a height, has a picturesque gabled 
tower. The chapel at the end of the left aisle is XII. c. 
The choir was rebuilt in the XVI. c. The nave (XIII. c. 
or early XIV. c.) is surrounded by a gothic gallery. 

29 /^. Pontoise (Hotels du Pontoise, de la Gare; omni- 
bus 20 c). — A very picturesque little town on a height 
above the Oise, which is crossed by a stone bridge of five 




FIFTEENTH-CENTURY MILL (aBBAYE DU VAL). 

arches. Pontoise existed in the time of the Gauls, who 
called it Briva Isarae (the bridge of the Oise) : the 
Romans called it Pons Isarae. The early kings of France 
were often here. Philippe I. coined moneta Pontisiensis, 
St. Louis spent the early years of his married life here, in 
a castle in the upper tower, Mont Be'lien,^ and here, after 
recovering from a dangerous illness, in 1244, he took the 
vows of a crusader. 

"La roine mere faisoit a la roine Marguerite de grandes 
rudesses ; elle ne vouloit souifrir que le roi hantat la roine sa 

1 Only destroyed in the XVIII. c. 



PONTOISE IQ^ 

femme, ni demeurat en sa compagnie ; et, quand .e roi che- 
vauchoit aucunes fois par sa royaume avec les deux roines, com- 
munement la roine Blanche faisoit separer le roi et la roine 
Marguerite, et ils n'etoient jamais logis ensemblement. Et 
advint une fois qu'eux etant a Pontoise, le roi etoit loge au- 
dessus du logis de la roine sa femme etavait instruit ses huissiers 
de salle de telle fa9on, que quand il etoit avec ladite roine et que 
madame Blanche vouloit venir en la chambre du roi ou en celle 
de la roine, les huissiers battoient les chiens, afin de les faire 
crier, et, quand le roi entendoit cela, il se mussoit [se cachait] de 
s a mere.' ' — Join ville. 

In 1437 the town was taken by the English under 
Talbot, who covered his men with white sheets, and so 
enabled them to come close to the walls unobserved dur- 
ing a hea\7 snowstorm. Amongst the many historical 
events which have since occurred at Pontoise, we may 
notice the consecration of Bossuet, as Bishop of Meaux, 
in the church of the Cordeliers, which possessed a mag- 
nificent refectory, three times used for meetings of Parlia- 
ment. 

Winding streets lead up into the town, passing the 
church of Notre Dame, which is renaissance, though 
founded XIII. c. It has a very wide central aisle, on the 
right of which is the beautiful altar-tomb of St. Gautier, 
1 146, bearing his figure, with four little angels swinging 
censers at the extremities. Gautier was the first abbot of 
St. Martin of Pontoise. Disagreeing with his monks, he 
fled from them to Cluny, but was forced to return in 1072 : 
soon he left them again, to live in a cave, where he gave 
himself up to flagellation and penance, and finally he 
found a more complete seclusion on an island near Tours. 
He died in 1094, and, as he was censured by the Council 
of Paris for his opinions, imprisoned for contumacy, and 
frequently reproved for his wandering tendencies,^ it is 

* Gallia Christiana, x. 254. 



194 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



Strange that he should have been enrolled amongst the 
saints. 

Finely placed, at the highest point of the town, is the 
vast and stately church of St. Madou, which has a noble 
tower and flamboyant west front. The choir and transept 
date from the XII. c, but have later vaulting. In the 
Chapelle de la Passion (first, left) is a splendid St. Sep- 
ulcre with eight statues : the Resurrection is represented 
above, and, on the side wall, the Maries hurrying to the 
tomb. The Hotel Dieu, founded by St. Louis, was rebuilt 
1823-27 : its chapel contains the Healing of the Paralytic, 
a good work of Philippe de Cha??tpaigne. At the entrance 
of the town was a convent of English Benedictines, trans- 
ferred to Boulogne in 1659. It contained the tomb of 
John Digby, brother of an Earl of Bristol, inscribed "Hie 
jacet umbra, et pulvis, et nihil." 

The famous Foire de St. Marti?i is held at Pontoise on 
November 11, 12, and 13, and is the most important fair 
in the neighborhood of Paris. 

Beyond the river, at 2 /^., is Aumbne, where the church 
of St. Ouen, founded in the X. c, has a romanesque XI. c. 
portal, and contains an image of the Virgin, given by 
Queen Blanche to the Abbey of Maubuisson. Returning 
from St. Ouen d'Aumone to the highway, we should cross 
the road, and then the railway by an iron bridge, to where 
the gate of the famous Abbey of Maubuisson still crosses a 
lane on the right, and supports a covered passage. The 
greater part of the abbey ruins are in the beautiful gardens 
of the adjoining chateau, but travellers are allowed to see 
them on applying to the concierge. When the abbey was 
founded, in 1236, by Queen Blanche of Castile for nuns 
of the order of Citeaux, it was at first called Notre Dame 
la Royale ; but the name of Maubuisson, which is that of 



ABBA YE DE MAUBUISSON 



195 



a neighboring fief, has prevailed. As she felt the approach 
of death (1253), Queen Blanche summoned the abbess to 
her palace at Melun, and received the monastic habit from 
her hands, and, after her death, she was buried, with great 
pomp, in the church of Maubuisson. Here, in 1314, 
Blanche, daughter of Othelin, Comte de Bourgogne, and 
wife of Philippe de Poitiers, son of Philippe le Bel, ac- 
cused, with her two young sisters-in-law, of adultery, was 







GATEWAY (aBBAYE DE MAUBUISSON). 



shut up for life. But the convent itself had a very scan- 
dalous reputation in later days, especially when Angelique 
d'Estrees, sister of the famous Gabrielle, obtained the ap- 
pointment of abbess from Henri IV., and spent five-and- 
twenty years in corrupting the sisterhood. 

"Without any hyprocrisy, without any veil or subterfuge, 
she boldly organizes a worldly life. The abbey becomes that of 
Thelema ; cards, tables, receptions, promenades, dainty colla- 
tions, plenty of play acting, and dancing, all in company of gen- 
tle cavaliers, amuse the leisure of these recluses. This mirthful 
abode is the meeting-place of the young nobility of the neighbor- 



196 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



hood. Even the religious of St. Martin took their share in the 
fete, and nuns and monks gave themselves the pleasure of a ball 
together." — Barron. 

Angelique Arnauld was sent from Port Royal to spend 
five miserable years in the uphill work of reforming Mau- 
buisson, where she had been educated in her early child- 
hood, and Angelique d'Estrees, arrested by the general of 
her Order, was carried off to the Filles Penitentes de St. 
Marie, at Paris, where, though she once contrived to es- 
cape and return to Maubuisson for a time, she ended her 
days. Succeeding abbesses were not, however, much 
more virtuous, certainly not Louise-Marie Hollandine, 
Princess Palatine (daughter of Frederick IV. of Bohemia 
and Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I.), and aunt of 
George I. of England, appointed abbess in 1664, who had 
had fourteen children, and used to swear " par ce ventre 
qui a porte quatorze enfants." ^ In her latter days, how- 
ever, this abbess became perfectly respectable, and was 
very highly esteemed. 

" I have again made a visit to my aunt, the Abbesse of Mau- 
buisson, and found her, thanks be to God, still more lively and 
gay than the time before. She has more gaiety, more vivacity, 
sight and hearing better than mine, although she is thirty years 
older, for on the ist of April she was seventy-seven. She is 
painting a very pretty picture for Madame, her sister, our dear 
Electress of Brunswick ; it is the Golden Calf after Pussin. She 
is adored in her convent, she leads a very rigid but tranquil life, 
never eats meat, unless seriously sick, sleeps on a mattress hard 
as a stone, has only straw chairs in her chamber, and rises at 
midnight to pray. She forgets English less than German, for 
every day some English come to see her, and besides she has 
English nuns in her convent." — Co7'respo7idance de Aladauie. 

The ruins are of great extent, though the abbey church 
was so completely destroyed at the Revolution that noth- 

^ Lettres d' Elizabeth-Charlotte^ Duchesse d'Orledm. 



ABB A YE DE MAUBUISSON 



197 



ing remains but bases of walls and pillars, and the altar, 
embedded in shrubs and flowers. Greatly to be regretted 
are the magnificent tombs, including those of Blanche of 
Castile ; of Bona of Luxembourg ; of Charles le Bel ; of 
a brother of St. Louis ; of Jean de Brienne, Prince of Acre ; 
of Jeanne de France, daughter of Charles le Bel and 
Blanche de Bourgogne ; of Catherine of France, daughter 
of Charles V. ; of Jeanne, daughter of Charles VI. j and 
of Gabrielle d'Estrees, who was brought hither to be buried 
in the choir of her sister's abbey, in April, 1599. The 
centre of the choir was occupied by the tomb of the found- 
ress^ inscribed — 

" Ex te, Castella ! radians ut in aethere Stella, 
Prodiit haec Bianca, quam luget natio Franca. 
Rex pater Alphonsus, Ludovicus Rex quoque sponsus. 
Quo viduata regens agit ut vigeat requiescens. 
Hinc peregrinante nato, bene rexit ut ante ; 
Tandem se Christo coetu donavit in isto, 
Cujus, tuta malis, viguit gens Franca sub alis, 
Tanta prius, talis jacet hie Pauper Monialis." 

The two last words allude to the fact that the queen 
took the monastic vows five days before her death. 

The magnificent refectory is entire, in which the pri- 
oress, Mme de Cleri, rebuked Henri IV. with profaning 
the temples of God, when he came with Gabrielle d'Estrees 
to the abbey. It has a vaulted roof, supported by four 
columns, but is subdivided into an orangerie and dairy. 
The gravestone of a bishop is preserved here. The dor- 
mitory above is destroyed, and replaced by a terrace, at 
the end of which some curious openings are seen, over 
a stream which runs below at a great depth. In the gar- 
dens, where the Mere Marie Angelique used to walk with 
St. Frangois de Sales, there are some traces of the Palace 



l^g DAYS NEAR PARIS 

of St. Louis. " La Chapelle de Nuit de St. Louis," sup- 
ported by two columns, remained entire till 1884, when 
the columns suddenly gave way, without a moment's warn- 
ing, and all was instantaneously buried in ruin. A little 
XVII. c. pavilion of the abbess — a kind of summer-house 
— remains. There is a magnificent monastic barn, divided 
into three aisles by pillars ; attached to the gable on the 
interior is a tourelle with a staircase to the roof Tourelles 
of the XIV. c. remain at the angles of the park wall. 

" In the plan of the Abbey of Maubuisson there is still found 
the primitive severity of the Cistercian arrangements, but, in the 
style of the architecture, concessions have been made to the pre- 
vailing taste of the epoch ; sculpture is no longer excluded from 
the cloisters, the rigorousness of St. Bernard yields to the needs 
of art, which then made itself felt even in the most modest 
buildings. The Abbey of Maubuisson was at the same time an 
agricultural establishment and a school for young girls. We 
see, on examining the plan of the abbey, that this monastery 
did not differ from those adopted for communities of men." — 
Viollet-le-Duc. 



VIII. 

ECOUEN, ROYAUMONT, ST. LEU-D'ESSERENT, 
CREIL, NOGENT-LES-VIERGES. 

REACHED from the Gare du Nord, Ecouen is on the 
line from Paris to Beauvais. Ecouen and Royau- 
mont {via Viarmes) may be visited in one day's excursion ; 
St. Leu d'Esserent and Nogent-les-Vierges in another. 
The train which leaves Paris about lo. 15 allows three 
hours at St. Leu, which gives time for luncheon at the little 
inn by the river. From Creil one can walk or drive to 
Nogent-les-Vierges, and return to Paris by the express 
trains in one hour. 

The line to Ecouen follows the Chemin-de-fer du Nord 
to St. Denis, whence we branch off on the left to — 

13/^. Groslay. — The church, XIII. c. and renaissance, 
has good XVI. c. windows. 

15 i^. Sarcelles-St. Brice. — St. Brice has a XIII. c. 
steeple, and Sarcelles (i/^., by omnibus) has a curious 
church of the XII. c. and XVI. c, with a renaissance 
portal and romanesque steeple. 

18/^. Ecouen. — The town is 2 k. from the station. An 
omnibus meets every train. Ecouen is a pretty wooded 
spot. The little town clusters around a little square with 
an old chestnut tree. The renaissance church with fine 
vaulting and glass (attributed to Jean Cousin) in the 



206 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

chancel and aisle, was built by Jean Bullant for the famous 
Anne de Montmorency, at the same time with the mag- 
nificent chateau, which rises above the houses. The gothic 
choir windows bear the device of the Montmorency, 
airXavCdg, and the dates 1544, 1545- Bullant, who wrote 
his Traite des cinq ordres ou majiieres at Ecouen, died here 
in 1578, and had a monument, which is now destroyed, in 
the church. 

The chateau of Ecouen was founded in the XI. c, by 
the Barons de Montmorency. The Connetable Anne de- 
molished the ancient fortress, and replaced it by a magnifi- 
cent renaissance palace by Bullant. Primaticcio furnished 
designs for the two chapel windows. It was here that 
Henri II. published his famous edict of 1559, pronouncing 
sentence of death against the Lutherans. Confiscated 
from the Montmorency under Louis XIIL, Ecouen was 
given to the Duchesse d^Angouleme, and passed to the 
house of Conde, to whom it belonged till the Revolution, 
when its treasures were dispersed. Napoleon restored 
the fabric of the chateau, and made it a school for 
daughters of members of the Legion of Honor, under 
the famous Mme Campan. It was restored to the Prince 
de Conde at the Restoration, but returned to the State in 
1852, and is now once more a school, for the daughters of 
officers. There is no admittance to the chateau or its 
pretty gardens ; but the buildings are well seen from the 
gate. 

4 k. north of Ecouen is Le MesJtil-Aubry, with a very 
handsome renaissance church ; its side wall, of XV. c, has 
its ancient windows. 

2oJ^. Domont. — The choir of the church is XII. c; 
in the nave and transept are curious XIIL, XV., and 
XVI. c. gravestones. 



ABBA YE DE kO YA UMONT 



lot 



2^ k. MonsouIt.—2 k. north-west is Maffliers^ with a 
church partly due to PhiUbert Delorme. 



A branch leads east to — 

7 k. Viarmes. — 3 k. north are the interesting remains 
of the still occupied Abbey of Royaumont (Mons Regalis), 
founded in 1230 by St. Louis, who often made it a retreat, 




ChAtEAU of tCOUEN. 

eating with the monks in the refectory, and sleeping in 
their dormitory. Five of his children were buried in the 
beautiful XIII. c. church, which is now a ruin. The 
effigies of Prince Jean Tristan and Princess Blanche are 
now at St Denis. Amongst other tombs which once 
existed here, was that of Henri de Lorraine, Comte d'Har- 
court, 1666, a chef-d'oeuvre of Coysevox. 

The cloister and the refectory, which resembles that of 
St. Martin des Champs at Paris, are preserved. In the 



202 ^^ ^^ NEAR PARIS 

centre of the latter is an admirable reader's pulpit. Visitors 
are not admitted to the abbey. 

\2 k. Luzarches (Hotel, St. Damien),— i:\iQ church is 
XII., XIII., and XIV. c. There are remains of a chateau, 
and of the priory of St. Come, with a gate over a steep 
street. 3 k. south is the stately XVI. c. Chateau de Cham- 
platreux, belonging to the Due d'Ayen. The abbey of 
Rocquemont was bought at the Revolution by Sophie 
Amould and turned into a villa, whence she went to 
represent the Goddess of Liberty in the civic fetes at 
Luzarches. 

33 k. I'resles.— The church is XIII., XVI., and XVIII. c. 
Raoul de Presles was an author well known in the XIV. c. 
3 h. east, in the forest of Carnelle^ is La Pierre Turquoise^ 
a subterranean avenue of Druidical stones. 

38 k. Persan-Beaumont. — The little town of Beaumont- 
sur-Oise gave a title of count to the family of Conti. It 
has a fine XIII. c. church, with a crocketed stone spire, 
and remains of a chateau of the same period. Behind the 
town is the Forest of Carnelle. Here we join the main- 
line from Paris to Creil via Pontoise, which has passed at — 

40 k, V Isle-Adam^ where the Princes de Conti had a 
magnificent chateau,^ destroyed at the Revolution, on an 
island in the Oise ; nothing remains but a terrace. A 
modern villa replaces the chateau. The place owes its name 
to its island, upon which the Constable Adam built a 
chateau in 1019, under Philippe I. The church is of the 
XVI. c, but has a portal attributed to Philibert Delorme, 
and was built at the cost of Anne de Montmorency ; in 

1 Armand de Conti inherited it as the second son of his mother, Charlotte 
de Montmorency, Princesse de Conde, sister and heiress of Henri II. de Mont- 
morency, beheaded at Toulouse in 1633. 



57-. LEU-D'ESSERENT 203 

one of its modern stained windows the great seigneurs of 
risle-Adam-Philippe de Villiers, Louis de Villiers, Anne 
de Montmorency, and Francois de Bourbon Prmce de 
Conti, are seen assisting at a mass celebrated by St. Martm 
of Tours. In a chapel to the left is the tomb, partially de- 
stroyed at the Revolution, of Louis Francois de Bourbon, 
Prince de Conti, exiled to his estates of Isle-Adam by the 
vengeance of Mme de Pompadour, whom he had treated 
with great disdain. To the north-east and south-east is 
^li Forest of r Isle-Adam. 

After passing Beaumont the line reaches— 
r, k Boran.-h suspension bridge over the Oise leads 
(4 k. south-east) to the Abbey of Royaumont (see above). 
6 k. east is the old chateau of La Morlaye, occupying the 
site of the Merovingian villa of Morlacum. 

(,ik St. Leti-d'Esserent, famous for its quarries ot 
Pierre de St. Leu. The noble and picturesque church 
stands finely on a terraced height. It is approached by a 
striking XII. c. porch with a chamber above it. I he 
steeple, of 1160, has the singularity of detached hips only 

• J I • „o trs tViP main scire. To the south and west 
united by rings to the main spire. ^ 

the church is surrounded by buttresses and flying but- 
tresses. At the east end is a romanesque tower on either 
side of the sanctuary, which is beautifully constructed. 

.. If it is desired to ascertain the extreme limit to which the 
archi, ts if the end of the XII, c. attained in lightness of the 
-rafpoints of support, and in stahiUty '^^^\:^:^ ^, 
the equilibrium of opposrng '^'^''^^^'irZuet-U.Duc. 
sanctuary of the church of St. Leu-d tssereni. 

There are considerable remains, near the west end of 
the church, of a priory, founded within the fortifications of 
his castle by Hugues d'Esserent, Comte de D=«"'"^«'";'" 
the XI c, in gratitude to the Benedictines of the Wood 



204 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



of St. Michel, who paid his ransom when he was taken 
prisoner whilst on pilgrimage to Palestine. The most 
remarkable remnant of the priory is a machicolated gate- 
way of the XIV. c, intended apparently as much for the 
entrance to a farm as for a fortified gate. There are beau- 
tiful later renaissance buildings. 

67 k, Creil (Buffet; Hotel de PEpee, Leon (T Argent, 
des Chemins-de-fer), the ancient Credulium, is a pretty town 
on the Oise. Its old turreted houses rise straight from 




ST. leu-d'esserent. 



the river by the bridge, with the church spire behind them. 
In the castle, pulled down by the Prince de Conde before 
the Revolution, was a chamber, with a balcony enclosed 
by an iron grille, where Charles VI. was shut up during 
his madness. The island, where the castle once stood, is 
now occupied by the remains of the Abbey of St. Evre- 
mo7td, of which the desecrated choir exists, and shows 
some friezes of great beauty. The Church has a tower 
and crocketed spire (1551); near the entrance (right) are 



NOGENT-LES- VIERGES 



205 



remains of a chimney for warming the water used in 
baptisms. 

I k. north-west of Creil is Nogent-les- Vierges^ where 
Clovis is said to have had his camp when he drove out the 
Roman legions from Gaul, and where the earliest kings 
had a palace, in which Thierry III. was surprised by the 
rebel Ebroin, maire du palais, in 673. 




NOGENT-LES-VI ERGES. 



To the right is the Church of Villers St. Paul Its 
nave and aisles are romanesque, with gothic arches rest- 
ing upon its huge columns and capitals. The choir and 
tower, flanked by four tourelles, are gothic. The porch, 
in the fagade, has curious sculptures. 

A road turning to the left at the entrance of the village 



2o6 ^^-i ^S NEAR PARIS 

of Nogent, past the front of the chateau of Villers, leads 
for 2 k. along the foot of the hills to the hamlet of Royau- 
mont, above which, strikingly placed on the steep rocky 
crest of a wooded hill, with an old chateau nestling under 
it, and a wide view over the plain, is the interesting Church 
of JVogent-les-Vierges, dedicated to the Assumption. The 
beautiful tower has three tiers of arcades, ornamented at 
the angles by columns, twisted or adorned with foliage, 
and with a gabled roof. The very ancient nave — with 
gothic additions — has stone roofs. Two bas-reliefs on the 
pillars under the tower come from the destroyed church of 
St. Marguerite at Beauvais. The gothic choir was added 
by St. Louis: it is lighted by seven lancet windows of 
three lights, with roses above them. The monument of 
Messire Jehan Bardeau is signed by Michel Bourdin. In 
front of this is a shrine with relics of Sts. Maura and 
Bridget, Irish virgins, who gave a name to the place, hav- 
ing been buried here after their martyrdom at Baligny 
I k. distant. Close by is the sepulchral chapel of Mare- 
chal Gerard. 

" It happened that, in the time of Pope Urban III. (who 
flourished in 1185), the servants of Messire Garnier, Chevalier de 
Senlis, lost one night a black-haired cow, and it passed the night 
in the cemetery of Nogent on the tomb of the virgins ; the men, 
having found her lying down, forced her to get up, and found 
that she had become zvhite on the side that had touched the tomb ; 
marvelling as they did, one of them said to the other that it was 
not the cow they had lost ; the other replied, that if it was the 
same, she would return to her place just as she was accustomed, 
and this she did ; which caused the servants to repeat this marvel 
to all whom they met, showing the cow that had turned white on 
one side. After this, the place began to be honored and visited 
by those afflicted by various maladies, who, returning, in great joy 
and gladness, sound and whole, gave praise to God. Some time 
thereafter the same cow, being again astray and passing the night 
at the same spot, lying on the tomb of the holy virgins, the serv- 



VILLERS ST. PAUL 207 

ants, not finding her, went to look in the same spot as they 
had previously, and there they found her lying down, and, forcing 
her to get up, they found her entirely white. The fame of the mir- 
acle being spread abroad through all France, people came in great 
abundance to Nogent, desiring to see this marvel, and many, 
affected by divers maladies and languors, returned home sound 
and whole. Henceforth the village of Nogent was christened les 
Vierges." — Louvet, " Ilist. de la ville Beauvais." 

Behind the church is a desecrated cemetery, overgrown 
with juniper. The gray walls and arches of the church, 
the old elm in front clustered with misletoe, the wide 
porch with its deep shadows, the broken tomb-stones, and 
the little encircling chapels, are well adapted for a picture. 

At the spot called La Croix des Vierges, a XIV. c. col- 
umn marks the spot where the oxen stopped which drew 
the chariot of Queen Bathilde, when she was attracted 
to Nogent, in 645, by the fame of the miracle-working 
virgins. 

Passing in front of the ch^tfeau of Villers we may soon 
reach the Church of Villers St. Paul. The nave and its 
aisles are romanesque, with gothic arches resting upon its 
huge columns and capitals. The choir and the tower, 
flanked by four tourelles, are gothic. The porch, in the 
fa9ade, has curious sculptures. 



IX. 

CHAN TILL V AND SEN LIS. 

A DELIGHTFUL excursion of three days from Paris 
may be made by spending the first between Chan- 
tilly and Senlis, and sleeping at the latter ; spending the 
second morning at the Abbaye de la Victoire, proceeding 
by rail to Pierrefonds, via Crepy-en-Valois, and sleeping at 
Compiegne ; on the third day seeing Compiegne, and re- 
turning via Creil. 

The direct line from Paris to Chantilly branches off 
from the main line at St. Denis. There is no beauty till it 
enters the forest of Chantilly. It passes — 

31/^. Siirvillie7's ^ where the chateau was bought by 
Joseph Bonaparte, who took the name of Comte de Sur- 
villiers when he went to America after the fall of the Em- 
pire. A,k. east, near Plailly, is Morfontaifte — where the 
treaty of peace between France and the United States was 
signed — the favorite residence of Joseph Bonaparte. 

"At Morfontaine, sailing on the lakes, reading, billiards, 
literature, ghost stories, more or less well told, ease, and entire 
liberty, formed the life led there. Joseph Bonaparte was torn 
from his peaceful tastes to go and reign over the Parthenope of 
antiquity. 

" ' Leave me King of Morfontaine,' he said to his brother. ' I 
am much more happy in this enclosure, the end of which I see, it 
is true, but where I can diffuse happiness around me,' 



CHAN TILL Y 209 

" His wife, Mme Joseph Bonaparte, also felt the same regret 
at quitting her quiet habits, but Napoleon had spoken, and noth- 
ing remained but to be silent and obey." — Mdmoires de la Duchesse 
d' Abrantes, 

After Joseph Bonaparte^ Morfontaine was possessed by 
the Due de Bourbon, who left it to his mistress, Mme de 
Feucheres. 

40 k. Chantilly (Hotels, du Cygne, d'' Angleterre) was 
the Versailles of the Princes de Conde. The famous Con- 
stable Anne de Montmorency inherited Chantilly through 
his grandmother, Marguerite d'Orgemont. He built the 
existing chateau in the style of the Renaissance, uniting it 
to the feudal castle, which had existed from the ninth cent- 
ury. Henri II., Due de Montmorency, grandson and heir 
of the Constable, was beheaded at Toulouse for joining in 
the conspiracy of Gaston d'Orleans against Richelieu. His 
confiscated domains were given by Louis XIII. to his sis- 
ter Charlotte, who married Henry II., Prince de Conde, 
and was the mother of the Grand Conde, of Armand de 
Bourbon, Prince de Conti, and of the Duchesse de Longue- 
ville.^ The magnificence of Chantilly dates from the 
Grand Conde, under whom the gardens were designed by 
Lenotre, and the waters of the Nonette and the Theve 
pressed into service for magnificent cascades and foun- 
tains. The most celebrated of the fetes given by the 
Grand Conde at Chantilly was that to Louis XIV., in 
April, 1 67 1. When it was in prospect Mme de Sevigne 
wrote : 



^ The House of Conde descended from Louis I. de Bourbon, fifth and last 
son of Charles de Bourbon, Due de Vendome, younger brother of Antoine de 
Bourbon, King of Navarre. He was first cousin of Henri IV. By his first 
wife, he was the father of Henri, Prince de Conde; by his second wife, cf 
Charles de Bourbon, founder of the branch of Soissons. The Princes de Conti 
descended from Armand de Bourbon, son of Henri II. de Conde, and younger 
brother of le grand Conde. 



2IO DAYS NEAR PARIS 

"The king is to go to Chantilly on the 25th of this month ; 
he will be there a whole day. Never were such expenses incurred 
at the triumphs of the Emperors as will be there. Nothing is too 
dear ; all kinds of pretty fancies are entertained without regard 
to money. It is believed that the Prince will not get off under 
40,000 crowns." 

It was at this fete that the famous cook Vatel killed 
himself because the fish was late. 

"Vatel, the great Vatel, maitre-d'hotel of M. Fouquet, who 
was at this time, that of the Prince, this man of distinguished 
capacity, above all the others, whose good head was capable of 
holding the cares of a state, seeing at eight o'clock that the sea- 
fish had not arrived, could not endure the dishonor which he saw 
about to crush him, and, in a word, stabbed himself. 

"The king arrived Thursday evening; the promenade, the 
collation in a spot carpeted with jonquils, all that, was perfec- 
tion. Then supper ; at some of the tables there was no roast, 
on account of several dinners that had been overlooked. This 
hurt Vatel ; he said several times, ' I have lost my honor, this is 
a disgrace I shall not support.' He said to Gourville, 'My head 
is turned ; for twelve nights I have not slept ; help me to give 
orders.' Gourville consoled him as well as he could. The roast 
that was missing, not at the table of the king, but at that of 
the Vingt Cinquiemes, always returned to his mind. Gourville 
told the Prince, the Prince went to Vatel's room, and said, 
' Vatel, all is going on well ; nothing was so fine as the king's 
supper.' He replied, ' Monseigneur, your goodness oppresses 
me. I know that the roast was wanting at two tables.' ' Not at 
all,' replied the Prince ; ' do not trouble yourself, all goes on well.' 
Midnight came ; the fireworks were not a success, owing to 
clouds ; they cost sixteen thousand francs. At four in the morn- 
ing Vatel went through the place and found everybody asleep. 
He met a petty purveyor, who brought only two loads of sea-fish. 
He asks him, ' Is this all ?' ' Yes, Monsieur.' He did not know 
that Vatel had sent to all the seaports. Vatel waits some time ; 
the other purveyors do not arrive ; he becomes heated ; he fancied 
that there would be no more sea-fish. He sought out Gourville, 
and said, ' Monsieur, I shall not survive this disgrace.' Gour- 
ville laughed at him. Vatel went up to his room, placed his 
sword against the door, and passed it through his heart, but not 



CHAN TILLY 2ii 

till the third attempt, for he had given himself two wounds that 
were not mortal ; he fails dead. The fish begins to arrive from all 
sides. Vatel is looked for to distribute it ; they go to his room, 
knock, force the door, and find him bathed in his blood ; they 
run to the Prince, who is in despair. The Prince told it to the 
king very sadl)'. They said it was because he had a sense of 
honor after his fashion, praised him highly, and praised and 
blamed his courage. . . . Meanwhile Gourville struggled to re- 
pair the loss of Vatel. It was repaired ; the dinner was very 
good. There was a collation, supper, a promenade, gambling, 
and hunting. Everything was perfumed with jonquils, every- 
body was enchanted." — Mme de Se'vignd. 

The Grand Conde spent his latter years in a literary 
seclusion at Chantilly. He died in 1686, and the last work 
of the great orator Bossuet was his funeral oration. 

"The Great Conde at Chantilly was still, as if at the head of 
his armies, equally great in action and repose. He entertained 
his friends in those superb avenues, to the sound of those leaping 
waters, that were silent neither night nor day." 

The son of the Grand Conde — Henri Jules de Bourbon, 
" M. le Prince," of whom St. Simon gives so curious an 
account, "qui alloit jusqu'k peser tout ce qui sortait de son 
corps " — was a terrible domestic tyrant, his Princess was 
his continual victim, and Mile de Conde died of his 
harsh treatment. 

" Chantilly was his delight. In his promenades he was al- 
ways followed by several secretaries with writing cases and paper, 
who wrote down, bit by bit, whatever came into his mind as re- 
quiring to be repaired or embellished. He spent there prodigious 
sums, but mere trifles in comparison to the treasures which his 
grandson buried there and the marvels he created. 

" In the fifteen or twenty last years of his life, some wander- 
ing of mind was noticed. ... It was whispered, that at times 
he fancied himself a dog, at others some other animal, whose 
ways he imitated." — St. Simon. 

Louis in. (1668-17 10), the next Prince de Conde, 
known through life as "M. le Due," was one of the 



2 12 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

most prominent figures at Versailles during the reign of 
Louis XIV. 

" He was a man considerably smaller than the smallest men ; 
without being fat, he was thick everywhere, his head surprisingly 
big, and a face to terrify you. It was said that a dwarf of the 
Princess was the cause of this. He was of a livid yellow, a look 
almost always of rage, but, at all times so proud and overbear- 
ing, that he could scarcely be endured. He had wit, was well 
read, retained something of an excellent education, politeness 
and grace when he liked, but he seldom did like ; he had neither 
the injustice, the avarice, nor the baseness of his fathers, but he 
had all their powers, and displayed application and intelligence 
to the art of war. His perversity seemed to him a virtue, and 
some strange vengeances, which he took more than once, and 
which a private individual would have been punished for, he 
deemed an appanage of his greatness. His brutality was extreme 
and displayed in everything. He was a mill, alwa)^s whirling in 
the air, and made all fly before it, and even his friends were 
never safe, either from extreme insults or cruel pleasantries to 
their face." — St. Simon, 

It was to this strange personage that Louis XIV. had 
married one of his daughters by Mme de Montespan — 
Louise Frangoise de Bourbon, known as Mile de Nantes. 

"The people who had the most reason to fear her, were en- 
chanted by her, and those who had most cause to hate her, 
had to keep reminding themselves of the fact, in order to resist 
her charms. Never the least ill-humor at any time, joyous, gay, 
witty with the finest salt, unshaken by surprises or misadvent- 
ures, free in her most restless and most restrained moments, 
she had passed her youth in frivolity and in pleasures which, in 
every style, and every time she could do so, led to debauchery. 
With these qualities, much wit, a head for intrigue and business, 
a pliability that cost nothing, but no ability for far-reaching 
affairs, contemptuous, mocking, pricking, incapable of friend- 
ship and very capable of hate, and then she was mischievous, 
haughty, and implacable." — St. Sunon. 

The eldest of their nine children was Louis Henri, " M. 
le Due," chief of the council of regency after the death of 



CHAN TILLY ^^^ 

Louis XIV., and, after the death of the Duke of Orleans, 
first minister of Louis XV. He displayed in a greater 
degree the rapacity which had been a characteristic of his 
ancestors, was greatly compromised in the financial opera- 
tions of Law, and enormously increased his hereditary 
fortune, living as a king at Chantilly, and receiving Louis 
XV. and the Duchesse de Berry there with the utmost 
magnificence. In 1726 he was supplanted as first minister 
by Cardinal Fleury, who caused him to be exiled from the 
Court. He spent his latter years entirely at Chantilly, 
devoted to natural history, and died there in 1740. 

His son, Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Conde, 
was distinguished as a soldier. 

" The field of battle was the place required for the men of 
this house, so poor and mean in civil life. There only was it 
given them to show what they were worth. It is reported that 
an officer, requesting this Prince of Conde to retire a few paces 
to avoid the fire of a battery, * I do not find,' he replied, ' any of 
these precautions in the history of the great Conde.' " — Le Bus. 

This prince delighted to fill Chantilly with Buffon, 
Marmontel, D'Alembert, Diderot, and other clever men of 
the time. Originally a liberal in his views, he became 
vehemently conservative with the Revolution, and was the 
first of the princes to emigrate. On the banks of the 
Rhine he organized the emigrant army called " I'armee de 
Conde." Meanwhile the old chateau of Chantilly was 
destroyed by the Bande Noire. The little chateau escaped, 
as its sale was not completed at the time of the Restora- 
tion. The Chateau d'Enghien, which had been built by 
Louis Joseph, was used as a barrack. Under the first 
empire Chantilly was given to Queen Hortense. 

Louis Joseph Henri, the next owner of Chantilly, who 
had married his cousin, Louise d'Orleans, was the father 



^j4 t)AYS MEAK PARIS 

of the Due d'Enghien, murdered by Napoleon I. He 
was the Due de Bourbon found hanged to the window- 
blind at St. Leu^ a few days before the revolution of 1830. 
He left the Due d'Aumale, his great-nephew, his heir, with 
the exception of two millions, several chateaux, &c., which 
he bequeated to his English mistress, Sophia Dawes, 
called Baronne de Feucheres. 

Opposite the station of Chantilly is the entrance to a 
delightful footpath which leads through a wood to the 
idscioyxs. Race-course, where the races, established 1832, take 
place every spring and autumn. On the third day of the 
spring races, which is always a Sunday, the " Prix du 
Jockey-Club " is contended for.^ The handsome building 
beyond the race-course will be taken for the chateau, but 
is the magnificent Stables, built (17 19-1735) by Louis 
Henri, seventh Prince de Conde. Behind the stables 
rises the Church, of 1672, where a monument, with an 
angel guarding a bronze door, encloses the hearts of the 
House of Conde, preserved, till the Revolution, in the 
church of the Jesuits at Paris. A stained window repre- 
sents the death of St. Louis. Very near the church is the 
Hotel du Cygne. 

Through a stately gateway at the angle of the stables, 
we re-enter the park, and descend to the lake, out of which 
the Chateau rises, the earlier part abruptly from the water. 
The stone pavilion at the gate, the old pillars and terraces 
close to the water, the feathery trees, the talJ gilt spire of 
the chapel, the brilliant flowers on the flat land beyond 
the lake, and the groups of people perpetually feeding the 
fish, form a charming picture. 



* The races are in the second week in May ; on the Sunday towards the end 
of September which precedes the Paris races, and on the Sunday in October 
which follows the Paris races. 



CHANTILL V 



215 



An equestrian statue of the Conne'table Anne de Mont- 
morency, by I'atil Dubois^ has been replaced before the 
arcade of the Cour d'Honneur. Opposite the chateau is 
the Pavilion d'Enghien, which the last Prince de Conde 
but one built for the accommodation of his suite. The 
parterre is open from half-past twelve to eight. A bridge 
leads over a sunken garden to wooded glades, where 
numbers of peacocks strut up and down. The name of 
that part of the grounds known as Fare de Sylvie comes 
from the " Maison de Sylvie," a dull poem in honor of 




CHANTILLY. 



the Duchesse de Montmorency, composed here by Theo- 
phile de Viau, condemned to be burnt alive for sacrilege, 
and to whom the Duke (beheaded 1632) had given an 
asylum. 

The noble domain of Chantilly was given in 1886 as a 
free sift to the France to which his life and heart were 
devoted, by the most distinguished and public-spirited of 
iier sons, Henri d'Orleans, Due d'Aumale, immediately 
after his exile by the republican government. The art 



2i6 DAYS MEAR Paris 

treasures with which the palace is filled will be open to 
the public, under the superintendence of officers appointed 
by the Academie de France, and will form the most touch- 
ing and lasting evidence of forbearance and forgiveness 
which Europe has ever seen. 

The pictures at Chantilly include the glorious "Vierge 
de la Maison d'Orleans " of Raffaelle^ the " Venus and 
Ganymede" of Raffaelle, the "Battle of Rocroi" of Van 
der Meulen, some of the best works of Watteau in exist- 
ence, the ^^ Ecole Turque" and " Reveil " oi Decamps, the 
"Deux Foscari" oi Delacroix, and the ^^ Mort du Due de 
Guise " of Delaroche. There is a glorious collection of 
portraits of the house of Conde. The library is valued at 
200,000/., and for a single chest of drawers, which be- 
longed to Louis XIV., 20,000/. was refused by its late 
owner. In the splendid XVI. c. glass of the chapel win- 
dows, the children of the Connetable de Montmorency 
are represented. 

In the Forest of Chantilly (i^ hour, following the Route 
du Connetable, opposite the chateau, as far as the Carre- 
four du Petit Convert, and thence taking the third alley to 
the left) is the Chateau de la Reine Blanche, or de la Loge, 
a building erected in the ancient style by the Due de 
Bourbon, on the supposed site of a little chateau built in 
1227 by Queen Blanche, mother of St. Louis. 

The neighboring village of St. Firmi?i was the place 
where the Abbe Prevost, author of Manon Lescaut, fell 
down in a fit. He was carried, apparently dead, into the 
house of the cure, and the authorities ordered the body to 
be opened. As the surgeon plunged his knife into the 
body, a fearful scream showed that a swoon had been mis- 
taken for death ; but it was too late ! 

The line from Chantilly to Crepy-en-Valois passes — 



CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME ^i^ 

43 k. (from Paris) Senlis (Hotels, dii Grand Cerf- — 
good, clean, and reasonable ; des Arhies). 

The picturesque and attractive little city of Senlis is a 
treasure-house alike to the antiquary and artist. It retains 
its Gallo-RomanfortiJicatio?is more perfectly than any town 
in France, except Bourges and St. Lizier, and its walls of 
cement, faced on both sides with cut stonC;, have preserved 
sixteen out of their twenty-eight ancient towers. The site 
of the residence of the Roman governor was afterwards 
occupied by a Chateau of the Kings of France^ from Clovis 
to Henri IV., of which interesting ruins remain from the 
XI., XIIL, and XIV. c. The ancient gothic entrance to 
this chateau is to be found at the end of the Rue du Cha- 
tel, but the modern approach is from the little Place St. 
Maurice. The towers of the royal chateau are well seen 
from the Rue de Chat-Huret. In 1863 some small re- 
mains of a Roman Amphitheatre were discovered. 

The Cathedral of Notre Dame, to which time has given 
coloring of exquisite beauty, is a noble building of the 
XII., XIIL, and XVI. c. The plan on which it was be- 
gun, in 1 155, was of vast size, but want of funds compelled 
the curtailment of the length which it was intended to give 
to the nave, and the suppression of the triforium. The 
church was consecrated in T191. In the XIIL c, one of 
the west steeples was completed, leaving the other unfin- 
ished, chapels were added on the right of the choir, and a 
transept was begun. The chapels of the nave and some 
of those of the choir date from the XIV. c. and XV. c. 
In 1502 the cathedral was struck by lightning, and it be- 
came necessary to renew the whole of the vaulting and the 
upper windows. The transept was finished and the fagade 
restored at the same time. The central portal of the fa- 
gade, formerly divided by a central pillar, has the Burial 



21 



S 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



and Coronation of the Virgin in its tympanum, one of the 
earliest and best representations of this subject. The 
transept portals bear the salamander of Frangois I. : they 
are surrounded by a loggia under the principal windows. 

"Each of the gables of these porches is surmounted by fig- 
ures ; on the south porch the Trinity is represented under the 




PORTAL, SENLIS. 



figure of an Eternal Father seated and holding the cross on which 
Jesus Christ is extended ; a dove takes the place of his beard, and 
seems to designate the Holy Ghost. The statue, in the country, 
bears the name of God the Father. On the north porch is also an 
allegorical figure, named God the Son ; it represents a man with 
hands raised to heaven, in the attitude assumed by the early 
Christians for prayer." — Dulaure, ^'Environs de Paris." 



SMNLIS 



S19 



The steeple on the right of the fagade is one of the 
marvels of the XIII. c. 

" One of the rare complete bell towers of the beginning of 
the XIII. century, is the one that flanks the fagade of the cathe- 
dral of Senlis, on the south side. Built, without change or break 
of plan, during the early years of the XIII. centur)^, in materials 
of excellent quality, this tower shows already the tendencies of 
the architects of the XIII. century to seek for surprising effects. 
Rising on a square base almost filled in, but under which there 
opens a charming door to the south aisle of the cathedral, this 
lateral belfry, contrary to the practice of previous architects, is 
no longer an isolated monument, but intimately connected with 
the plan of the church ; its ground floor serves as a vestibule to 
one of the side vaults. . . . Great pinnacles of open work, rest- 
ing on the angles of the square, serve for a transition between 
the square base and the octagonal story. The upper spire, with 
eight sides, like the tower that supports it, bear on each face a 
large light, the opening of which gives passage to the sound of 
the he\W—Viollet-le-Dtic. 

In the interior, the pillars, side-aisles, and tribunes of 
the nave and choir belong to the construction of the XII. c. 
The nave has five bays, of which the first is a vestibule 
under the towers, and the last opens upon the transepts. 
In a chapel on the left, the keystone of the vaulting repre- 
sents a large crown, with four angels extending their wings 
towards it. The rectangular part of the choir has six 
bays, of which the first is common to the transepts. The 
chapels are XIII. c. and XIV. c. The ambulatory of the 
apse is encircled by five chapels, of which four are XII. c. 
The final chapel is modern. In the chapel of St. Rieul 
are some fine incised monuments of bishops, their crosiers 
inlaid in white marble. In the wall of the left aisle is a 
XVII. c. relief of the Entombment. 

The Evkhe, to the south-east of the cathedral, dates 
from XII. c, but has lost all its characteristics. 



^20 J^A YS NEAR PARIS 

Near the cathedral is the desecrated collegiate Church 
of St. Frambourg^^ rebuilt in 1177, of striking and simple 
proportions^, without aisles or transepts. In this part of 
the town are several curious old houses with tourelles, and 
other desecrated churches, one of them, St. Aigna?i (XIV. c. 
and XVI. c), turned into a theatre. Another collegiate 
church, St. Rieul, is greatly dilapidated. 

The fine Church of St. Pierre is now enclosed in a 
cavalry barrack. It is of the richest XVI. c. flamboyant, 
and has two towers, one crowned by a beautiful spire of 

1431- 

Approached by an avenue from the lower part of the 
town is the ancient Abbey of St. Vincent^ founded by Queen 
Anne of Russia in 1065, now modernized, and occupied 
by an ecclesiastical college. The monastic church still 
exists, with its vaulting of 1130, and its graceful early 
pointed (XII. c.) tower and low steeple. 

The Hotel de Ville was rebuilt in 1495. ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ 
houses, we may especially notice No. 53 Vieille Rue de 
Paris, with a XVI. c. polygonal tower, and No. 20 Rue 
du Chatel, with a curious gothic portal and vaulted 
halls. 

We must take the Rue Bellon (first on left in descend- 
ing the Grande Rue) and proceed in a direct line till we 
reach a crucifix, then follow a stony road (right) to a 
watermill, opposite which take a paved lane to reach 
(right), in the gardens of a chateau, the beautiful ruins of 
the Abbaye de la Victoire, founded by Philippe Auguste in 
honor of the victory of Bouvines. The architect was a 
monk named Menand. Louis XI. often used to stay at 
this abbey, and built a chateau close by (which was pulled 

* To visit the interior apply at No. 6 Rue St. Frambourg-. 



ABBA YE BE LA VICTOIRE 



221 



down by the monks in 1599), where he signed a treaty of 
peace with Francois II. of Brittany. In 1783 the abbey 
was suppressed, and the greater part of its buildings were 
pulled down. The existing remains are those of three 
bays of the south aisle of the choir, which had been re- 
stored 1472 -15 19. 

Very near the Abbaye de la Victoire, 3 \ k. from Senlis, 
is the ancient Chateau of Mont VEveque, which was the 




ABBAYE DE LA VICTOIRE. 



summer residence of the bishops of Senlis. ^\k. further 
(twenty minutes' walk from the station of Barbery, on the 
line from Senlis to Crepy-en-Valois) is the ruined castle 
of Montepilloy (Mons Speculatorum), built in the XII. c, 
partly rebuilt by Louis d'Orleans in 1400, and dismantled 
at the end of the XVI. c. 

Ermenonville (13/^.) may be visited from Senlis. See 
Chap. XI. 



222 DA YS NEAR PARIS 

The excursion to Chantilly and Senlis may be com- 
bined with that to Pierrefonds and Compiegne, by taking 
the railway to the former, changing at Crepy-en-Valois. 
The line passes — 

60 k. (from Paris) Barbery (the nearest station to Mont- 
epilloy). The church was consecrated in 1586 by Guil- 
laume Rose, Bishop of Senlis, famous in the League. 
Near this is the chateau of Chamant^ which belonged to 
Lucien Bonaparte. There is a monument to his first wife, 
Ele'onore Boyer. 

" Madame Lucien was interred in the park of her property at 
Plessis Chamant. Her husband built over her a monument of 
white marble surrounded by a railing. When he went to Plessis 
he took his daughters with him, that, young as they were, they 
might pray with him," — Memoires de la Diuhesse d' Abranth. 

69^. Auger-St. Vincent. The church is XII., XI IL, 
and XVI. c. with some windows of 1534. 2 k. east is the 
farm of Farc-aux-Dames^ once a monastery : the XV. c. 
chapel remains. 

76 >^. Crepy-en-Valois (Hotel, de la JBanniere), The 
former capital of the duchy of Valois has some remains of 
a chateau founded in the XI. c. The parish church of St. 
Denis dates from the same time, but the facade is XII. c, 
the choir XV. c. The collegiate church of St. Thomas 
was begun (1180) by Philippe d' Alsace, Comte de Flandre. 
The fagade is XIII. c; the tower, with a stone spire, 
XIV. c. 

"The building was in course of erection when the famous 
Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, passed through the 
town of Crepy. As the count showed to him with pride the im- 
mense buildings of the church, ' To what saint will it be conse- 
crated?' asked the archbishop. 'To the first martyr,' replied the 
count, who intended to dedicate to St. Stephen. * Do you speak,' 
said the prelate, ' of the first of past martyrs or the first of 



^7; THOMAS 223 

future martyrs?' After the death of Thomas the count remem- 
bered these prophetic words, and placed the church under the 
invocation of the new martyr." — Dulatire, ^^ Etivirons de Paris" 

The town contains many houses of the XV. c. and 
XVI. c. and one of the XIV. c. 



X. 

COMPIEGNE AND PIERREFONDS 

FROM the Gare du Nord. Compiegne and Pierre- 
fonds may well form part of a three-days' excursion, 
embracing Chantilly and Senlis (see Chap. IX.), but they 
may easily be visited in the day from Paris. The line as 
far as Creil is described in Chap. VII. and Chap. VIII. 

At Creil the line to Brussels and Compiegne diverges 
north-east by the right bank of the Oise, passing — 

62 k. (from Paris) Pont-St. Maxence, which takes its 
name from an Irish martyr of the V. c. The church is 
XV. c. and XVII. c. A XIV. c. facade remains of the 
palace called Yraine, which belonged to the dukes of Bur- 
gundy. The Hotel de Ville or Maison du Roi, in the Rue 
de Caville, is XV. c. In the Rue de la Ville is a XV. c. 
tower. The line passes, on the left, near Houdancourt, 
the ancient farm of Lamotte^ of the Comtes de Lamotte- 
Houdancourt, and the ruined castle of Longueil-St. Marie. 
The forest of Halatte lies between the line and Senlis. 

72 ^. Verberie., where Clotaire and Chilperic had a 
residence, in which Charles Martel died, and where Pepin 
summoned a general council in 752. Charlemagne rebuilt 
the palace, in which several councils were afterwards held, 
and where Charles le Chauve celebrated the marriage of 
his daughter Judith with Ethelwulf, king of England. 



COMPIEGNE 



225 



The palace, restored by Charles V., existed till the XV. c, 
when it was pulled down for building materials. 

Verberie was amongst the fortresses whose demolition 
was ordered by Charles VII. in 1431; but Francois I. 
again surrounded it with walls, and its five gates were en- 
tire in the XVIII. c. The church is XII., XIII., and XV. c. 
At the south extremity of the town is Le Petit Ceppy — 
a house of XIII. c. or XIV. c. \k. south-east is the 
church of St. Waast-de-Longmont^ with a fine romanesque 
portal and apse, and a tower with a stone steeple of XII. c. 
The line passes on the left the church of Rivecourt^ 
which has a curious portal. The interior was painted in 
fresco in the XVI. c. 

84 k, Compiegne (Hotels, de la Cloche, very good ; de 
France; du Soleil d^ Or). The Latin name of Compiegne 
was Compendium. The first Merovingian kings had a 
palace here, and, ever since, the town has been a resort of 
royalty. Pepin le Bref received here, as a present from 
Constantine Copronymus, the first organ which had been 
seen in France. Louis le Begue, son of Charles le Chauve, 
was crowned here in 877, and died here two years after. 
It was here that Eudes, Comte de Paris, was elected king 
of France in 888. It was in the forest of Compiegne that 
Philippe- Auguste lost his way whilst hunting, in his four- 
teenth year, and was brought back to the palace by a 
charcoal-burner, an adventure of which he so nearly died 
of fright, that his father, Louis VIL, had to cross over 
into England to pray for his recovery at the shrine of St. 
Thomas of Canterbury. Under the reign of St. Louis, 
2,000 barons assembled at Compiegne for the marriage of 
the king's brother, Robert. It was here that, after the 
disasters which followed the battle of Poitiers, Charles V., 
in 1358, reunited the States-General, and provoked a 



226 ^^ ^^' NEAR PARIS 

monarchical and feudal reaction against the rebellion of 
Paris, which was making its first attempt at representative 
government. 

In the troublous times of Charles VII. Compiegne was 
frequently taken and retaken by the conflicting armies, but 
only one attack of the English is especially remembered, 
for on that day, so fatal for the honor of France and 
England, Jeanne Dare was taken prisoner. 

"Jeanne returned to Compiegne; her heart was with this 
town and its people si bounne fran(^oise, but the inner voice still 
spoke to her sadly. Nearly every day the prophecy of her 
approaching capture was renewed. According to a tradition 
preserved at Compiegne, ' The maid, one early morning, had 
mass said at St. Jacques and confessed and received her Creator, 
and then retired near one of the pillars of the said church, and 
said to many folk of the town who were there (and there was 
there a hundred or six score of children that much desired to see 
her): "My children and dear friends, I say to you that I am 
sold and betra)^ed, and that, in brief time, I shall be delivered to 
death. So I beg you to pray God for me, for never shall I again 
have power to do service to the king or realm of France.'" 

"Jeanne did down to the last moment all that she could do 
in the conviction of victory. She went to seek for succor, 
gathered at Crespi three or four hundred picked men, and hastened 
to bring them to her 'good friends of Compiegne.' She re- 
entered the town at sunrise, May 23, by the forest, which is still 
called the forest of Cuise. A sally was prepared by agreement 
between her and the governor, Guillaume de Flavi. 

" Once in action, the warlike ardor, the fever of heroes, seized 
her and banished her sombre presentiments. That day she had 
no private warning, no dark presage. 

"About five in the evening, Jeanne sallied from Compiegne 
at the head of five hundred picked men, partly horse, partly on 
foot, and attacked Marqui. The garrison of Marqui came out 
to meet her, but was driven back and hurled into the village, 
where Jeanne followed them. The Burgundians rallied. They 
soon became superior in number, but the dash of the assailants 
was such that they repulsed, in a second and third charge, this 
always increasing multitude. 



COMPlkGNE 227 

"Five hundred English, however, were coming from the 
opposite side, from Venette. The companions of Jeanne saw 
them at a distance on their rear. They forgot that the English 
could not place themselves between them and the town without 
being shot down by the artillery of the fortifications. They 
thought they were cut off. The rear ranks disbanded. The 
fugitives rushed to the barrier of the fortification and masked the 
English, who, already sheltered from the fire of the place, charged 
them boldly and gained the road. 

"The bravest and most devoted of Jeanne's companions, 
who had never quitted her since her parting from the king, one 
of her brothers, her squire, Jean d'Aulon, and others still fought 
around her. When they saw what was passing behind them, 
'Endeavor to reach the city,' they cried to her. ' or you and we 
are lost ! ' 

" But Jeanne was transported with that heroic ecstasy which 
danger inspired her with. ' Silence ! ' she cried. ' It depends 
on you whether they are discomfited. Think only of smiting 
them.' 

"For all that she could say her people would not believe 
it ; they took the bridle of her horse and made her by force return 
to the town. 

" It was too late. The streams of Burgundian and Picard 
horsemen were pursuing, head to tail ; behind them, between 
them and the place, other Burgundians, mixed with English, 
were thrusting their swords into the first fugitives, and already 
attacking the barrier. The barrier had been closed and the draw- 
bridge raised. The governor of Compiegne was afraid of seeing 
the rampart and the bridge over the Oise seized by the enemy. 
There remained some boats filled with archers ; the most of the 
foot soldiers of Jeanne's troop had already found refuge there, 
but Jeanne, who did not retire except step by step, fighting all 
the time, and who was resolved to enter last, could not gain the 
banks of the Oise. She was driven, with her friends, into the 
angle formed by the rampart and the slope of the road. 

"All the enemy rushed upon her at once. The banner, con- 
secrated far otherwise than the orifiamme, that had been the sal- 
vation of France, the banner of Orleans, of Patay and of Reims, 
was in vain waved to summon assistance. The faithful army of 
Jeanne was no longer there. The holy standard fell, overthrown 
by French hands. The last defenders of the maid were dead, 
captive or separated from her by the throng of assailants. 



22S ^^4 YS NEAR PARIS 

Jeanne still struggled. Five or six horsemen surrounded her, 
and, all at once, laid hands upon her and her horse. Each of 
them cried, 'Surrender to me! Pledge 3^our word!' ' I have 
sworn,' she replied, ' and pledged my word to another than you ; 
I will keep my oath to him.' 

"An archer pulled her violently ' by her casaque of cloth of 
gold.' She fell from her horse. 

" The archer and his master, the Bastard of Wandomme, a 
man-at-arms from Artois, in the service of Jean of Luxembourg, 
seized her. She was taken prisoner to Margny. 

** The prediction of her voices was fulfilled. The period of the 
struggle was ended for her. The period of martyrdom com- 
menced." — Martin, "^ Hist, de France.''^ 

The Porte du Vieux-Pont, near which Jeanne Dare 
was taken, long bore the inscription — 

" Cy fuct Jehanne d'Ark pres de cestui passage 
Par le nombre accablee et vendue a I'Anglais, 
Quibrula, le felon, elle tant brave et sage. 
Tous ceux-la d'Albion n'ont faict le bien jamais." 

All the later kings of France have from time to time 
inhabited Compiegne, which was the favorite residence of 
the Emperor Napoleon III., and the scene of his chief 
hospitalities. 

The town is prettily situated on the Oise, and its 
streets are clean and handsome. In a central position is 
the picturesque Hotel de Ville of 1502-15 lo. The figures 
of the Annunciation, which once decorated it, have been 
replaced by an equestrian statue of Louis XII., by Jacque- 
mart. In the interior is a Musee, with the ordinary collec- 
tion of second-rate pictures. The very fine church of St. 
Antome dates from the XII. c. , but retains little of that 
time. The rest is chiefly rich XVI. c. gothic, but the very 
lofty choir and chevet are due to Pierre Dailly, XIV. c. 
The tracery of its parapets is very rich. A curious XL c. 
font was brought from St. Corneille, and a stained window 
from the church of Gilocourt. The church of St Jacques, 



COMPIEGNE 5^9 

so touchjngly connected with the story of Jeanne Dare, 
was founded at the beginning of the XIII. c, but not 
finished till the XV. c. It was intended to have two 
towers, but only one was completed, and the portal which 
was to have connected them is also unfinished. The in- 
ternal ornamentation is of XVIII. c. On the neigh- 
boring Place du Change is a house where Henri IV. often 
stayed with his mistress, the Duchesse de Beaufort, to 
whom it belonged. The Church of St Nicholas, attached 
to the Hotel Dieu, contains a curious renaissance wooden 
altar-piece. In St. Germain is a beautiful banc-d'' ceuvre 
of 1587, which came from St. Jacques. 

The Chateau de Compiegne is the fourth royal residence 
which has existed here. The first was that of Clovis and 
Charlemagne ; the second was built by Charles le Chauve 
on the banks of the Oise ; the third, on the present site, 
was that of Charles V. ; the existing chateau was built by 
Gabriel for Louis XV. The architectural efiect of the 
principal part recalls that of the Palais Royal at Paris, on 
the side towards the Louvre. It is approached through a 
grille from the great square. 

The chateau is open to foreigners daily from 10 to i ; 
the public are freely admitted on Tuesdays, Thursdays, 
Saturdays, and Sundays at the same hours. On the ground 
floor is installed the Musee Khmer, of early Indian and 
Chinese monuments. The apartments, chiefly interesting 
from their association with Napoleon I. and III., are hand- 
some, but have no especial importance. The Galerie des 
Fetes has decorations in the style of the first empire, by 
Girodet, and statues of Napoleon I. and Madame M^re, 
by Canova. There is a large collection of indifferent pict- 
ures ; those of the story of Don Quixote, by Charles CoypeL 
are amusing. 



^36 



DA YS NkAR PARIS 



The Gardens cannot be entered through the palace. 
Emergiug from the Cour d'honneur, one must turn to the 
left, where an open gate will soon be found on the left of the 
avenue. These unkempt gardens have a much greater look 
of the country than those of Versailles, and a long grass 
avenue, made by Napoleon I. in 1810, stretches away from 
them through the forest. The terrace is very handsome, 
lined with orange and palm-trees in tubs. The great N of 
Napoleon is often repeated on the fagade of the palace on 







CHATEAU DE COMPlfeONE. 

this side. At the end of the terrace, on the left, passing a 
grille, we find ourselves above the Porte Chapelle, built by 
Philibert Delorme for Henri II., with a vaulted gallery 
under the terrace. It bears the monograms of Henri II. 
and Diane de Poitiers. Hence, an avenue leads to the 
Cours, along the river. Here we may see the moat of 
Charles V. and remains of the towers which defended it. 
Returning to the middle of the fagade, and taking the stair- 
case which descends to the park, we find to the left the 



ABBEY OF ST. CORNEILLE 231 

berceau, 1,800 met. long, which Napoleon I. made to please 
Marie Louise, in imitation of that of Schoenbrunn. 

The Forest of Conipiegne (called, till 1346, la foret de 
Cuise) was a favorite hunting-ground with the kings of 
France. Here a wild man, "vetu comme un loup," was 
seized in the time of Charles IX. and brought to the king, 
and here Henri IV. narrowly escaped being carried off by 
Rieux, governor of Pierrefonds. An avenue, facing the 
chateau, leads to the heights called Beaux-Mo?its, from 
which and from the neighboring hill called Mo?tt du 
Tremble^ there are good points of view. A more distant 
point for an excursion is the Mont St. Marc. This may be 
combined with a visit to the royal Abbey of St. Corneille, at 
the foot of the Beaux Monts. In this abbey, founded by 
Charles leChauve in 876, Henri III. was buried, in accord- 
ance with his own desire, but was moved to St. Denis by 
the Due d'Epernon. The abbey was totally destroyed at 
the Revolution. A road now traverses the nave of the 
church. Only part of the cloister remains, and is used as 
a barrack. 

"All the world knows the story of Grand-Ferr6 (1358), which 
the collectors of anecdotes have extracted from the interesting 
chronicle of the continuator of Nangis. The inhabitants of the 
village of Saint Corneille and the neighboring villages were en- 
trenched in a little fort, near the Abbey of Saint Corneille, under 
the command of a farmer named Guillaume TAlouette, a resolute 
fellow, much beloved in the country. Guillaume had with him 
his farm servant, who was called ' Grand-Ferre,' a kind of giant, 
of prodigious stature and strength ; for the rest humble in heart 
and simple in mind. The adventurers of the garrison of Creil 
sent a detachment to take the fort of Saint Corneille ; the bandits 
surprised it, and began by massacring I'Alouette. At this sight, 
Grand-Ferre takes a heavy axe, and, followed by the most daring 
of the peasants, flings himself on the English. At each blow 
he cut off an arm or split a head, and his comrades, imitating to 
the best they could, rained blows on the English as if they had 



^2^ i)A YS NEAR PARIS 

been threshing their corn on the floor. Grand-Ferre knocked 
down over forty himself ; the others ran away. The peasants 
were so emboldened by their victory, that, a second detachment 
having come to avenge the first, they sallied out to meet the 
enemy in the open field. The English were treated as their pred- 
ecessors had been. The peasants refused to admit to ransom, 
and slew all they could catch, ' to put them out of the way of 
doing harm.' 

" Grand-Ferre, however, had been heated in this second fight ; 
he drank a good deal of cold water and was seized with fever ; he 
returned to the village and took to his bed. The men of Creil 
soon heard of his sickness and sent a dozen soldiers to kill him ; 
but Grand-Ferre, warned by his wife, had time to grasp his good 
axe and to go out into the yard. 'Ah, robbers,' he cried to the 
English, 'you think to catch me abed, but you have not got me 
yet ! ' He put his back to the wall, raised his axe five times, and 
struck five English dead on the spot ; the seven others ran as hard 
as they could. He returned to his bed and drank some more cold 
water ; the fever redoubled ; he received the sacraments and died, 
wept by all the peasants. His exploits have made him a popular 
hero." — Henri Martin, ^^Hist, de France y 

A direct road leads from St. Corneille to St. Pierre 
(8 k. from Compiegne), with ruins of a priory founded by 
Charles le Chauve for Benedictines, replaced by Celestines 
in 1308. Below the ruins is La Fontai?te des Miracles^ 
supposed to remove barrenness. 

From Compiegne most visitors will take the railway 
line to Villers-Cotterets, though there is a good road of 
i2>^. (omnibus) to — 

96 k. Pierrefonds (Hotels, des Bains, prettily situated ; 
des Riiines, good, less pretentious j dii Chateau ; des 
Etrangers). One may dine at the Restaurant du Lac, 
which has a lovely view of the lake and the opposite hill, 
with every variety of forest green, and pink houses emerg- 
ing from it. Pierrefonds is much frequented for its 
mineral waters, useful for rheumatism and throat affec- 
tions ; but of world-wide celebrity from its magnificent 



PIERREFONDS 



^Zl 



chateau, one of the finest existing fortresses of the middle 
ages. The original castle dated from the XI. c, but this 
was replaced by the existing chateau (i 398-1 406) by the 
Due d'Orleans (brother of Charles VI.), who was assas- 
sinated in Paris by Jean sans Peur, in 1407. It was fre- 
quently besieged by the English and bravely defended 
against them. In 1588 it became the refuge of a band of 
brigands under the command of the brave Rieux, vainly 
besieged here by the Due d'Epernon and afterwards by 










PIERREFONDS. 



the Marechal de Biron, but eventually taken whilst pre- 
paring to attack some public carriages, and hanged at 
Compiegne. Under Louis XIII. the castle was com- 
manded by one Villeneuve, who pillaged the country much 
as Rieux had done. He was besieged by Charles de 
Valois, Comte d'Auvergne, and the castle was dismantled 
by Richelieu. During the Revolution the ruins were sold 
for8,Toofr. In 18 13 they were purchased by Napoleon 
I., and their restoration was begun in 1858 under VioUet- 
le-Duc and carried out through twenty-eight years at the 



234 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



expense of the State, the vast works being rendered com- 
paratively easy owning to the neighborhood of quarries of 
the right kind of stone. Now the magnificent chateau is 
as complete as when it was finished in the XIV. c, every- 
thing ancient having been carefully preserved and the old 
lines strictly followed out. The castle is open daily to the 
public, who are shown over it by warders, in large parties. 

"The chateau is, at once, a fortress of the first rank and a 
residence comprising all the offices requisite to provide for the 
existence of a prince or a numerous garrison. The donjon could 
be completely isolated from the other defenses. It was the habita- 
tion specially reserved for the lord and comprised all the neces- 
sary offices : cellars, kitchens, servants' rooms, wardrobes, 
saloons, and reception halls. The building that contains the 
great halls of the Chateau of Pierrefonds occupies the west side 
of the parallelogram forming the perimeter of this seigneurial 
residence. Once barracked in the halls of the ground floor, the 
troops were overlooked by the galler)'- of the entresol which is 
above the porch, and could not mount to the defenses except 
under the leading of their officers. These halls, moreover, are 
beautiful, well ventilated and lighted, provided with fire-places, 
and easily held five hundred men." — Viollet-le-Dnc. 

The chateau forms an irregular square of 6,270 met. at 
the end of a promontory from which it is separated by a 
moat. On each front are three great machicolated towers. 
There are two entrances to the outer wall, though from 
that nearest to the village only a steep footpath leads up 
the hill. Here, an outer gate and two drawbridges are 
passed before entering the castle court close to the donjon 
tower. The Annunciation is sculptured on the front, St. 
Michael over the gate. On the right of the court is the 
chapel, on the door of which Viollet-le-Duc is himself 
represented as St. James of Compostella. In the interior 
the gallery pew for the inmates of the castle draws atten- 
tion. A statue of the Due d'Orleans stands opposite the 



ST. JEAN AUX BOIS ^3^ 

perron which leads to the principal apartments. The 
Grande Salle de Reception., with squirrels holding shields of 
fleurs de lis over the chimney ; the Cabinet de Travail du 
Seigneur; the Chambre a Coucher du Seigfteur, with its 
curious arrangement for the Garde de Nuit ; the chamber 
for the Knights of the Round Table, are some of those 
which have been magnificently restored, their ancient deco- 
rations having been reproduced as far as possible. Over 
the chimney of the Salle d^Armes are statues of the wives 
oipreux chevaliers, restored from statues found in the 
ruins. From the towers there is a wide view over the 
forests of Compiegne and Villers-Cotterets. In the south- 
west tower are oubliettes, apparently veritable. The dif- 
ferent arrangements for defense through the whole build- 
ing are very interesting, and are well pointed out. 

" If the defensive arrangements of the Chateau of Pierrefonds 
have not the majestic grandeur of those of the Chateau of Coucy, 
they are still combined with a skill, care, and foresight in details 
that prove to what a degree of perfection the construction of 
strong seigneurial places had been carried at the end of the XIV. 
century, and to what extent the castellans at that epoch were mis- 
trustful of people outside." — Viollet-le-Diic. 

The village Church stands upon a crypt of 1060. The 
choir and chapels are of 1206, the nave and portal XV. c, 
the renaissance tower of 1552. There are remains of 
XIV. c, stained glass. 

^\k. from Pierrefonds, Zk. from Compiegne, is the 
ruined gothic church of St. Jean aux Bois, occupying the 
site of the villa of Cuisa, which gave the forest its first 
name, where King Gonthran died in 562, saying — "Que 
pensez-vous que so it le roi du ciel, qui fait mourir de si 
grands rois ? " It was Adelaide, mother of Louis VII., who 
built the convent and church for Benedictine nuns. The 
buildings were destroyed by the soldiers of Turenne. 2^ k.y 



236 J^A YS NEAR PARIS 

at St. Perinne, are remains of a succursale of the abbey. 
Some of the finest oaks in the forest are near St. Jean aux 
Bois. 

14 ^. from Compiegne, traversing the whole forest, is 
Morienval, a hunting-lodge of King Dagobert, who founded 
a church and two monasteries there. The monastery for 
men was burnt by the Normans and rebuilt, as well as the 
church, in the X. c. 



XI. 

NANTOUILLET, DAMMARTIN, AND ERMENON- 

VILLE, 



T 



^HIS is a pleasant and easy day's excursion from the 
_ Gare du Nord. The best way is to take the 8.50 
train, which does not stop till it reaches the station of 
Dammartin. Here the courier (a pleasant open omnibus) 
waits, and will take travellers to (21^.) yidlly, a village 
circling round a convent and the whitewashed buildings of 
a college of Oratorians, founded 1638. It possesses a 
statue of Cardinal de .Berulle, founder of the society here, 
and the heart of Henri d'Albret, King of Navarre, deposited 

at Juilly in 1555. 

Probably the courier will go on to Nantouillet, but it is 
only I k. further. Here there are vast remains of the mag- 
nificent chateau built by the unpopular minister Duprat, 
who was chancellor under Francois I. After the death of 
his wife, ambition induced him to take orders, and in time 
he became cardinal-legate. On the death of Clement VH. 
he hoped to succeed to the papal throne through the in- 
fluence of his patron, Francois I., and laid aside 400,000 fr. 
to spend in bribery for the purpose. 

A stately renaissance gateway, near a huge brick tower, 
forms the approach to the chateau, which had a deep moat, 
formerly crossed by a drawbridge. Over the entrance is a 



238 ^A YS NEAR PARIS 

Storm-beaten statue, said to represent Jupiter, whom the 
founder— for a cardinal-legate — held in strange admira- 
tion, as is attested by the still legible inscription, " Jovi 
genitori et protectori." The interior of the castle is now 
occupied as a farm, but has many renaissance details of ex- 




PORTAL, NANTOUILLET. 



quisite beauty. Especially deserving of attention are the 
wide gate on the left of the court, the door represented in 
the woodcut, and a graceful staircase, with open windows 
towards the court. Amongst the ornaments, the salaman- 
der of Frangois I., and the trefoils of Duprat are frequently 



DA MM A R TIN 239 

repeated. The chimney-piece of the Salle des Gardes 
bears the arms of Duprat, and medallions with mytholog- 
ical subjects. 

' The omnibus from Juilly will take tourists back to the 
station, where they may find another omnibus, which also 
comes to meet the train, to (4 k. from station) Dainmartin 
(Hotel du Chernin de Per, a good country inn — excellent 
luncheon), a small town prettily situated on the ridge of a 
low hill. It was burnt down in 1230, according to the 
rhyming chronicle — 

L'an mil deux cents vingt et dix, 
Fut Dammartin en flamme mis. 

It has two churches, the more important of which, 
founded 1480, has a good flamboyant entrance. In its 
beautiful choir, divided by two central pillars, and sur- 
rounded by oak stalls, is the fine altar-tomb of the founder, 
Antoine de Chabannes, the companion in arms of Lahire 
and Jeanne Dare, who became Count of Dammartin by his 
marriage with Marguerite de Nanteuil. It was Antoine 
de Chabannes who revealed to Charles VII. the con- 
spiracy of his son, afterwards Louis XL, for which he fell 
into disgrace and had his property confiscated, as soon as 
that king came to the throne, though his possessions were 
afterwards restored, and he lived to become the trusted 
friend of the king. Pierre Lemire, who saved the church 
under the Terror, is buried close by. On the north-east 
of the town are some remains of the castle of Antoine de 
Chabannes, sold to Anne de Montmorency in 1554. 

It is an easy drive of 8 k. (carriage for half-day, 8 fr.) 
from Dammartin to Ermenonville, through an uninterest- 
ing country, but passing the renaissance church of Orthis, 
and Eve, where the church has a very good early-pointed 



240 ^A YS NEAR PARIS 

tower. In a wooded hollow, close to the road, is the 
handsome moated XVIII. c. chateau of Ermenonvilie, be- 
longing to Prince Radziwill. Here permission must be 
asked of the concierge, before following a path, along (on 
the other side of the road) the shore of an artificial lake, 
to an island at the further end, reached by a bridge. 
Here, under some poplars, is a tomb, still bearing its 
inscription to Rousseau — " L'homme de la verite et de la 
nature." On a smaller island is the tomb of the painter 
G. F. Meyer, 1779. Not far distant, but on a separate 
property, is La Cabatie de y. y. Rousseau^ a cottage where 
he used to rest on his botanizing excursions. 

Ermenonvilie, which had previously belonged to the 
families of Orgemont and Montmorency, fell, in 1763, into 
the hands of the Marquis de Girardin, who had a natural 
talent for landscape gardening, and made it one of the 
prettiest places near Paris. He offered a retreat here, in 
1778, to Jean Jacques Rousseau, then very failing in body 
and mind, who inhabited a little pavilion (now destroyed) 
near the chateau. Here he expatiated over the delights 
of the country, and gave botanical lessons to the children 
of his host. At the end of six weeks he had a fall, from 
which he injured his head, and died, July 3, 1778. He 
was buried the same evening by moonlight in the Isle of 
Poplars, which has been a place of sentimental pilgrimage 
ever since, though his remains were removed to the 
Pantheon, October 11, 1794. When Bonaparte visited the 
tomb of Rousseau, he said — " It would have been better 
for France if this man had never existed ! " — " And why, 
citizen consul ? " asked Girardin. " Because he paved the 
way for the French Revolution." " I think, citizen consul, 
that it is scarcely for you to complain of the Revolution." 
" Well, the future will learn that it would have been better 



ERMENON VILLE 



241 



for the repose of the world if neither Rousseau nor I had 
ever existed." 

A walk of two hours, through woods, leads from Erme- 
nonville to Morfontaine (see Chap. IX.). Both places 
may be visited from Senlis, from which Ermenonville is 
13 k, and Morfontaine \q k. distant. 



XII. 

VINCENNES AND BRIE-COMTE-ROBERT. 

VINCENNES, a short drive from Paris, is most easily reached 
by omnibus from the Louvre, the Bourse, or Place de la 
Bastille to Vincennes itself ; or by the Chemin de Fer de Vincennes 
(Place de la Bastille) in 15 min. Those who wish to walk to the 
castle through the Bois may take the tramway from the Bastille to 
Charenton, descending at the Porte de Picpus ; or may take the 
railway, and leave it at the station of Bel-Air, close to the Porte 
de Picpus. From the Porte de Picpus, the Avenue Daumesnil 
leads by the Lac Daumesnil to the fortress : or by the Chaussee 
du Lac (third turn, left) one may reach the Lac de St. Mande, and 
follow the Route de la Tourelle from thence, and then the Route 
de I'Esplanade to the chateau. 

From the station of Vincennes the Rue de Montreuil leads to 
the chateau. 

The chateau is only shown in detail, from 12 to 4, to those 
furnished with a special order from the Minister of War. Strangers 
are always allowed to visit the chapel in the centre of the enclos- 
ure unattended. Artists are not allowed to draw without special 
permission. 

The first castle of Vincennes was built by Louis VII., 
1 164. This was rebuilt by Philippe Auguste, and again 
by Philippe de Valois. In 1560 Catherine de Medicis be- 
gan to add the Pavilions du Roi et de la Reine, which 
Louis XIV. united by covered galleries, forming a vast 
rectangle, flanked by nine outer towers. In the middle of 
the XVIII. c. the chateau ceased to be a royal residence, 
and it became in turn a china manufactory, a military 



VINCENNES 243 

school, and a manufactory of arms. It was put up for 
sale at the Revolution, but no one would buy it, and un- 
der Louis Philippe it was restored as a fortress and bar- 
rack. 

Many historic recollections linger about the old castle. 
It was there that St. Louis received the Crown of Thorns 
from the Emperor Baldwin, and thence that he set out for 
his two crusades. Thither his body was brought back 
from the coast of Africa. 

"When the king set out for the Holy Land, he went to Vin- 
cennes to take leave of his mother. At the end of a )'ear his re- 
mains were brought to the donjon he had loved. Nothing could 
be more sad than the return of the young king, Philippe III. ; 
he was escorted by the mortal remains of Louis IX,, his father ; 
of Jean, his brother ; of Thibaut, King of Navarre, his brother-in- 
law ; of Isabelle of Aragon, his wife ; of Alphonso, his uncle ; 
and of Jeanne of Toulouse, his aunt ; all having died, either in 
Africa, or Italy, during this fatal expedition." — Touchard-Lafosse, 
'' Hist, de Pajis." 

It was at Vincennes that Enguerrand de Marigny, the 
powerful minister of Louis le Hutin, was tried for having 
misappropriated the public finances, and unjustly con- 
demned to be hanged at Montfaucon, 13 15. It was there 
that Louis X. (1316), Philippe V. (1322), and Charles IV. 
(1328) died. There Charles V. was born (1337) and 
passed the greater part of his life, and there Queen Isa- 
beau de Baviere enjoyed her orgies. 

Henry V., of England, after conquering the greater 
part of France, died at Vincennes, in his thirty-fourth 
year. 

" Hung be the heavens with black, yield day to night ! 

King Henry the Fifth too famous to live long ! 
England ne'er lost a king of so much worth." 

Shakspeare, ''Hen, VI." Act. i. sc. i. 



244 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



' ' One of the doctors, from whom he ' asked for the truth, ' flung 
himself on his knees by his bed and told him to think of his soul, 
for he had only two hours to live ; Henry summoned his con- 
fessor and other churchmen, and ordered them to recite the seven 
penitential psalms. ' And when they came to the Benigne fac, 
Domine, where the words mwi Hierusalem occur, he said aloud 
that he had the intention, after he had placed the kingdom of 
France in peace, to go and conquer Jerusalem, if it had been the 
pleasure of his Creator to let him live his life.' Then, as if to re- 




DONJON OF VINCENNES. 



assure himself in this solemn hour, he recalled the fact that his 
war with France had been approved by the ' most holy persons ' of 
all the prelates of England, and that he had waged it without 
offending God or putting his soul in peril. 'And, briefly there- 
after, he gave up the ghost,' August 31, 1^22:'— Henri Martin, 
'' Hist, de France:' 

" His body was cut in pieces, and boiled in a cauldron till 
the flesh separated from the bones ; the water was thrown into a 
cemetery, and the bones and flesh were placed in a lead coffin, 



ViNCENNES 



245 



with many kinds of spices and odoriferous things, and smelled 
well." — Juvenal des Ursins. 

Louis XI. used Vincennes as a state prison, but his 
successor continued to reside there occasionally, and in 
1574 it witnessed the miserable death-bed of Charles IX., 
in his twenty-fourth year, red from the Massacre of St. 
Bartholomew. 

" His end was so mise.able that even the Huguenot writers 
display some pity. His short and broken slumbers were troubled 
by hideous visions ; exhausted by violent hemorrhages, he awoke 
bathed in blood, and this blood reminded him of that of his sub- 
jects shed in streams by his orders ; he saw in his dreams all the 
corpses floating down the Seine, and he heard in the air lament- 
able cries. The night before his death his nurse, whom he loved 
much, although she was a Huguenot, and who watched beside 
his bed, heard him lament, and weep, and sigh. ' Oh, nurse,' 
he cried, ' what blood and what murders ! Oh, what bad advice 
I had ! O my God, pardon me for these things, and show 
mercy unto me. I know not where I am, so perplexed and agi- 
tated do they render me ! What will become of all this [all this 
country] ? What will become of me — me to whom God entrusts 
it? I am lost, I feel sure ! ' Then the nurse said to him, ' Sire, 
the blood and the murders be on the heads of those who made 
you do them, and on their evil counsel.' His last words were 
that he rejoiced at not leaving any male child to wear the crown 
after him." — Henri Martin, 

Cardinal Mazarin died at Vincennes, March 3, 1661 ; 
but the death by which the castle is most remembered is 
that of the brave and innocent Due d'Enghien, son of the 
Prince de Conde, treacherously seized on foreign soil, con- 
demned without a trial, and executed at once by order of 
Napoleon I. in the night of March 20, 1804. 

" The exit from the stairs was by a low door opened on the 
ditch. The procession skirted for some time in the darkness the 
foot of the high walls of the fortress as far as the sub-basements 
of the pavilion of the queen. On turning the angle of this pavil- 
ion, which displayed another portion of the ditch concealed by the 



246 ^A YS NEAR PARIS 

walls, the prince found himself suddenly face to face with the 
detachments of troops posted to witness his death. The picket 
of fusiliers detailed for the execution was separated from the 
other soldiers, and their muskets glittered a few paces from him. 
Some lanterns, carried by hand, lighted the ditch, the walls, and 
the grave. The prince halted at a sign from his conductors ; he 
saw his fate at a glance, and did not change color. 

" He turned to the group of officers and of gendarmes who 
had preceded him, and asked in a loud voice if there was any 
one among them who would render him a last service. Lieu- 
tenant Noirot left the group, and approached him. His bearing 
indicated his intention. The prince said a few words to him in 
a low tone. Noirot, then turning towards the troops, ' Gen- 
darmes,' he said, 'has one of you a pair of scissors about him?' 
The gendarmes searched their knapsacks, and passed from hand 
to hand to the prince a pair of scissors. He took off his cap, cut 
a lock of his hair, drew a letter from his bosom, took a ring from 
his finger, folded the hair, the letter, and the ring in a piece of 
paper, and gave the little packet, his only bequest, to Lieutenant 
Noirot, charging him, in the name of his situation and his death, 
to see that it was forwarded to the young Princess Charlotte de 
Rohan, at Ettenheim. . 

" This love message being thus entrusted, he collected him- 
self for a moment, his hands joined to say his last prayer, and in 
a low tone commended his soul to God. Then he took five or 
six steps to place himself in front of the platoon, whose loaded 
arms he saw gleaming. The glare of a large lantern, with several 
candles in it, placed on the little supporting wall that overlooked 
the open ditch, streamed on him and gave light to the soldiers to 
aim by. The platoon retired some paces to measure the distance ; 
the adjutant gave the word, ' Fire ! ' The young prince, as if 
struck by lightning, fell, without a cry or movement, to the 
ground. The clocks of the chateau were striking three o'clock 
in the morning. 

" His dog, that had followed him into the ditch, howled and 
flung itself on his body. The poor animal was with difficulty re- 
moved, and given to one of the prince's servants ; it was sent to 
the Princess Charlotte, the only messenger from that tomb in 
which was sleeping he whom she never ceased to weep. 

" He was laid, fully dressed, in a grave dug beneath the wall. 
His blood cried and will cry aloud against his murderer from age 
to age." — Lamartine. 



VINCENNES 247 

"Examined by night, condemned by night, the Duke d'En- 
ghien was killed by night. This horrible sacrifice was rightly 
consummated in darkness, in order that it might be said that 
every law had been violated, even those that prescribed publicity 
of execution." — Dtipin. 

It was in the moat, on the side towards the esplanade, 
to the right of the drawbridge, in the angle formed by the 
Tour de la Reine, that the crime was committed. A red 
granite column, inscribed " Hie cecidit," marked the spot 
till the Revolution of July, when it was destroyed. 

Vincen7tes is a fortress rather than a chateau. The 
outline of the enclosure, keep, towers, and curtain walls — 
a splendid example of a military work of the XIV. c. — 
prove that a regular form was then adopted wherever the 
site allowed. Though considerable walls have been added 
at later times, it is still easy to detach the XIV. c. fortress 
from its additions. 

Entering the gates, we find, on the left of the great 
court, the Salle d'Armes, the Chapel, and the Pavilion de 
la Reine ; on the right, the Donjon and the Pavilion du 
Roi. 

The Chapel (the successor of those built by St. Louis 
and Philippe de Valois) was founded by Charles V. in 
1379, ^'^^ finished by Henri II. in 1552. 

"At Vincennes, a large tribune is carried by a vault above 
the entrance ; it occupies the whole first bay. The statues of the 
apostles and of four angles, behind the altar, were, at Vincennes 
as at Paris, placed against the pillars, at the height of the window- 
sills, and supported by consoles and covered with canopies. The 
supporting walls beneath the mullions were not adorned with 
arcade work at Vincennes, but were probably at one time fur- 
nished with wooden bars and tapestry. The windows of the 
apse alone have kept their stained glass, which was painted in 
the XVI. century by Jean Cousin, and represents the Last Judg- 
ment. Among the stained windows of the renaissance, these can 
take the first rank ; they are well composed and of fine execution. 



248 



DAVS NEAR PARIS 



The roof of the Sainte Chapelle at Vincennes, constructed of 
oak, and planned with great perfection, was surmounted only by 
a very small, simple spire that no longer exists." — Viollet-le-Duc, 

In the stained glass of the Last Judgment (saved during 
the Revolution, in the Musee des Petits-Augustins), the 
figure of Diane de Poitiers is pointed out — naked, her 
golden hair encircled by a blue riband. In the former 




CHAPEL OF VINCENNES. 



sacristy (left of choir) is the tomb, by Deseine, erected by 
Louis XVIII. to the Due d'Enghien, whose body, buried 
on the spot where he fell, was then exhumed from the 
moat and brought to the chapel. The Due de Bourbon, 
who died at St. Leu in August, 183O;, vainly implored in 
his will to be buried here by his son. 

The donjon is a lofty square tower, with a turret at 
each angle. It is five stories high, and when the castle 
was a royal residence, the king occupied the first floor, the 



ViNCEyjVES 249 

queen and her children the second, the rest of the royal 
family the third, the guards and servants the fourth and 
fifth. Some of the panelling and wood-carving of the 
royal apartments is now to be seen in the Salles His- 
toriques of the Louvre. Amongst the many illustrious 
prisoners immured here were the leaders of the Fronde 
(1650), of whom the Prince de Conde amused himself by 
the cultivation of flowers, which produced the verses of 
Mile de Scudery : — 

"En voyant ces oeillets, qu'un illustre guerrie'" 
Arrose d'une main qui gagne des batailles, 
Souviens-toi quApollon batissait des murailles, 
Et ne t'etonne pas que Mars soit jardinier." 

The quietist Mme Guyon, the friend of Fenelon, was 
imprisoned here in 1695, and composed a great volume of 
mystic verses here.^ Diderot, author of the Pensees Philo- 
sophiques^ was imprisoned here in 1749, and Mirabeau in 
1777, who wrote several of his works during his three 
years' incarceration. He thus describes the introduction 
of a prisoner to Vincennes : — 

** The feeble gleam of a truly sepulchral lamp lights the 
prisoner's steps ; two conductors, like the infernal attendants 
whom the poets place in Tartarus, guide his walk, the bolts be- 
yond number strike his ears and eyes, doors of iron turn on their 
huge hinges, the trembling light that pierces with effort into this 
ocean of darkness and allows to be perceived everywhere, chains, 
bolts, and bars, augments the horror of such a spectacle and the 
dread it inspires. The unfortunate captive at last arrives at his 
den. Here he finds a truckle-bed, two chairs of straw and often 
of wood, a jug almost always broken, a table covered with grease 
. . . and what more ? Nothing ! Imagine the effect produced 
on the soul by the first glance he casts around him." — Lettres de 
cachet. 

Before the Revolution visitors were often admitted to 

1 Voltaire. 



250 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



the prisons at Vincennes, and could read upon the walls 
such inscriptions as, " II f aut mourir, mon frere, il f aut 
mourir, quand il plaira a Dieu ; " " Beati qui persecutionem 
patiuntur propter justitiam, quoniam ipsorum est regnum 
coelorum ; " and, over the door, " Career Socratis, templum 
honoris." The holy Jansenist leader, M. de St. Cyran, 
was imprisoned and composed many of his most important 
works here. 

The Manufacture royale de Porcelame de France was 
founded in 1753 by Louis XV. at the instance of Mme de 
Pompadour, and from its origin was occupied in the manu- 
facture of flowers in china. 

"Disordered taste in porcelain made a whole flora bloom ; 
entire beds, with all their varieties of plants, issued from the 
furnaces of Vincennes, and took life under the hands of skilful 
workmen, who forged a vegetation of bronze for these flowers of 
enamel . " — Conrajod. 

The Bois de Vincennes, terribly curtailed of late years, 
is the especial "^promenade du peuple." Six railway sta- 
tions, on the Vincennes Brie-Comte-Robert line give ac- 
cess to it ; that of Nogent or Fontenay is nearest to the 
Lac des Minimes, that of Joinville-le-Pont to the Faisan- 
derie. The Rue de Paris leads from the chateau to the 
eastern part of the Bois, containing [2 k.) Les Minimes, 
where a pretty lake with islands and cascades occupies 
the site where a religious house, founded by Louis VII., 
once stood. Here the Due de Montpensier gave a fa- 
mous fete, July 6, 1847. On Sunday afternoons in sum- 
mer the Bois is crowded. Under every tree, along the 
edge of every lawn, by the bank of every stream, are 
family picnic parties, easily satisfied and intensely happy. 
Stolid Englishmen are astonished at the eagerness with 
which grown-up people are playing at ball or battledore. 



LE BOIS DE VINCEMNES 



251 



Nowhere is the hght-hearted, kindly^ cheery character of 
the French middle classes seen to greater advantage. In 
England such a scene would be an orgy ; here all is quiet 
enjoyment — coarseness, drunkenness, roughness are un- 
known. It was during a shower of rain in the park of 
Vincennes, when all the rest of the Court had hurried to 
take shelter, that Louis XIV. lingered by the side of Mile 
de la Valliere, and declared his love to her. 



From Vincennes a line leads in a little more than one 
hour to Brie Comte-Robert, passing — 

9 k. NogeJit-sur-Marne^ where Charles V. built a cha- 
teau — " un moult notable manoir," called the Chateau de 
la Beaute, — where he died (1380) ; it was destroyed in the 
XVI. c. In 172 1 the painter Antoine Watteau died here, 
saying to the cure of Nogent, who held a common crucifix 
before his closing eyes^ " Otez-moi cette image ! Com- 
ment un artiste a-t-il pu rendre si mal les traits d'un 
Dieu ? " 

13/^. St. Mau7'-Port-CreteiL — A famous Benedictine 
abbey was founded at St. Maur-les-Fosses^ in the reign of 
Clovis II., and dedicated to St. Peter, but changed its 
name in 868, when the monks of Grandfeuille in Anjou 
fled thither from the Normans, bringing with them the 
wonder-working body of St. Maur, which was henceforth 
invoked here every June 24, by vast multitudes shouting, 
" St. Maur, grand ami de Dieu, envoyez-moi guerison, s'il 
vous plait ! " 

On the death of Henry V. of England at Vincennes in 
1423, his entrails were buried at St. Maur. The abbey 
was secularized in the XVI. c. by the bishop of Paris, 
when its monks were replaced by eight canons, of whom 



2^2 ^-^ yS NEAR PARIS 

Francois Rabelais was one. Bishop Jean de Bellay em- 
ployed Philibert Delorme to build him, on the site of the 
abbey, a palace, which was sold to Catherine de Medicis 
in 1536. From the last Valois, the chateau passed to Char- 
lotte de la Tremouille, and from her, by marriage, to the 
house of Conde. The relics which had belonged to the 
abbey were removed to St. Germain des Pres at Paris, and 
the XI. c. reliquary of St. Maur is now in the Louvre. 
The chateau perished in the Revolution. 

I'] k. La Varenne St. Maur. — On the opposite side of 
the Marne is Chennevieres^ in a situation so admirable that 
Louis XIV. thought of making it the royal town before he 
decided to build at Versailles. An avenue leads to the 
very picturesque chateau of Ormesson^ built (XVI. c. and 
XVII. c.) in a lake, and connected by two bridges with the 
main land. 

20-^. Sucy-Bonneuil. — The Chateau de Sticy, of 1640, 
belonged to the Marechal de Saxe, and his chamber retains 
the furniture of his time. In the neighborhood are the 
chateau of Chaud-Moncel^ which belonged to the royalist 
" dames de Sainte-Amaranthe," guillotined on accusation of 
plotting against the life of Robespierre, and the chateau de 
Montaleau, which belonged to the Abbe de Coulanges, and 
where Mme de Sevigne lived from her sixth to her twelfth 
year. "Vous ai-je mande," she wrote late in life to her 
daughter, " que je fus I'autre jour k Sucy. Je fus ravie de 
voir cette maison oU j'ai passe ma plus belle jeunesse ; je 
n'avais point de rhumatismes en ce temps-la ! " 

22 >^. Boissy-St.-Leger. — Close by, on the left of the 
line^ is the very handsome moated Chateau de Gros-Bois, 
built by the arrogant Charles de Valois, Due d'Angouleme, 
bastard of Charles IX. and Marie Touchet. Wishing to 
enlarge his park at the expense of the village, but being op- 



BRIE-COMTE-ROBERT 253 

posed by the cure, who refused to allow the church to be 
pulled down, he took advantage of a processional pilgrim- 
age in which the whole parish was engaged, to set such a 
vast number of soldiers to work, that when the priest and 
his congregation returned, no sign of the church remained, 
and its site was already enclosed within the park walls. 
In the XVIII. c. Monsieur, Comte de Provence, was the 
owner of Gros-Bois. When it was sold by the nation, it 
was bought by Barras, who was succeeded in turn by 
Moreau, Fouche, and Berthier. It still belongs to the son 
of the Marechal Prince de Wagram, and is filled with his- 
toric relics of the Empire. 

20 k, Villecresnes . — A little south is the Chateau de 
Cercay^ which was the residence of M. Rouher, the favorite 
minister of Napoleon III. 

36 >^. Brie-Comte-Robert (Hotel de la Grace de Dieu), 
named from Robert of France, fifth son of Louis le Gros. 
It retains some ruins of a XII. c. Castle. The Church, of 
the XII. c. and XIII. c,, was modernized in the XVI. c. 
In the chevet, which ends in a straight wall, is a fine rose 
window, with XIII. c. glass, representing the months. The 
side chapels are XIV. c. and XVI. c. In the north aisle 
is a XIII. c. tomb, with the figure of a warrior. The tower 
is XIII. c. The Hospital has a gothic portal, with six 
arches of the XIII. c. 



ME A UX. 

THE station of the Chemin de Fer de VEst or de 
StrasboiiJ'g is close to the Gare du Nord and to the 
Boulevard Magenta. The scenery of the line is exceed- 
ingly bare and ugly. It passes through the banlieue of 
Paul de Koch, described in so many of his novels, but 
now built over and blackened, to — 

\i k. Boftdy, near the forest of Bondy, where Childeric 
II., king of Austrasia, is supposed to have been murdered 
in 673. The Avenue de I'Abbaye leads to the site of the 
Abbey of Livry, ionnd^d 1200, whither Mme de Sevigne 
often retired, and whence she wrote — 

"Holy Tuesday, March 24, 1671. I have been here three 
hours, with the purpose of retiring from the world and noise ; 
till Friday evening, I design to be in solitude. I make a little 
La Trappe of the place ; I wish to pray God here, and make a 
thousand reflections. I have determined to fast a good deal." 

The small remains of the abbey are now an orphanage ; 
the gardens are cut up and destroyed. At the Restora- 
tion the chateau of Livry belonged to the Comte de 
Damas, the faithful friend of Louis XVIII., who slept here 
April II, 1814, the day before his entry into Paris. 

13 k. Le Raincy (Rincianum), where, in the XVII c, 
Jacques Bordier built a magnificent chateau on the site of 



CHELLES 



255 



a Benedictine abbey. In 1750 the Due d'Orleans made 
here a park which is described in the stilted verses of 
Delille. Under the first empire tlie chateau belonged to 
Marshal Junot, whose wife (Duchesse d'Abrantes) de- 
scribes the first interview of Jerome Bonaparte with his 
second wife, Princess Catherine of Wurtemburg, which 
took place there under her auspices. Napoleon I. after- 
wards imperiously forced the Duke d'Abrantes to give up 
the chateau to him. It was pulled down under Louis 
Philippe, and the park has since been cut up and de- 
stroyed. The fine marble busts of Henri II., Charles IX., 
Henri III., and Henri IV., now in the Louvre, formed 
part of the decorations of Raincy. 

15 >^. Villefnouble-Gagny. — The church of Gagtiy dates 
partly from the XIII. c. 2 k. distant (omnibus, 30 c.) is 
Mo7itfenneil^ celebrated by Victor Hugo and Paul de 
Koch, but the place is much changed of late years. 

*' To-day it is a pretty large village, ornamented, all the year 
through, by villas in plaster, and, on Sundays, by blooming 
citizens." — Les Mise'rables. 

19 /^. Chelles^ where the early kings of France had a 
palace, stained, in the VI. c, by the crimes of Frede- 
gonde, who murdered the last of her stepsons at Noisy, on 
the opposite bank of the Maine, in 580. The great stone 
called Pierre de Chilperic once sustained the Croix de 
Sainte-Bauteiir, marking the spot where Fredegonde caused 
her husband Chilperic to be assassinated. That morning 
he had come playfully behind her whilst she was dressing 
her hair, and had given her a rap with his cane. " Pourquoi 
me frappes-tu ainsi, Landri ? " she had exclaimed, thinking 
that it was the Maire du Palais, her favored lover of the 
moment. The king then went off abruptly to the chase, 
and she felt that he must never return. Dagobert I., 



2^6 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

Clovis II., and his son lived at the villa regalis of Chelles, 
Clotaire III. died there, and Robert 11. (le Pieux) con- 
voked meetings of bishops there. The palace fell into 
decay under the last Capetian kings, but the abbey, 
founded by St. Clotilde in the beginning of the VI. c. and 
rebuilt by St. Bathilde, wife of Clovis II., flourished till 
the great Revolution, and counted Gisela, sister of Charle- 
magne, amongst its many abbesses of royal birth. Little 
remains of it now, except some wood carvings in the 
church, and some reliquaries containing bones of St. 
Bathilde, St. Bertille, &c. When Louis XIV. was in- 
spired with his sudden passion for Mile de Fontanges, 
amongst the benefits heaped upon her family, he made her 
sister abbess of Chelles, a dignity usually conferred upon 
the daughters of princes or dukes. 

" 6th April, i68o. Mme de Fontanges is made duchesse with 
20,ooo crowns pension ; she received congratulations thereon, to- 
day, in her bed. The king has been publicly there ; she takes her 
tabouret to-morrow, and goes to pass Eastertide at an abbey which 
the king has given to one of her sisters. This is a style of sepa- 
ration which will do honor to the severity of the confessor. There 
are people who say that this establishment has the air of a dismis- 
sal ; in truth, I do not believe so, time will tell us. At present 
the state of things is thus : Mme de Montespan is in a fury ; she 
wept much yesterday ; judge then of the martyrdom suffered by 
her pride." — Mme de Se'vigne. 

To this abbey, a few months later, her health and power 
broken, Mile de Fontanges came as a refuge. 

"7th July, i68o. Mme de Fontanges has left for Chelles. 
She had four carriages and six, her own had eight horses ; all her 
sisters were with her, but it was all so sad that it was piteous ; 
the fair lady losing all her blood, pale, changed, overcome with 
grief, despising 40,000 crowns income and a tabouret which she 
has, and longing for health and the king's heart, which she has 
not. I do not think there ever was an example of a person so 
fortunate and so unfortunate. 



ME A UX 



257 



" ist September, 1680. We heard at our abbey [of Livry] the 
triumphs, the trumpetings and the music of Chelles at the con- 
secration of the abbess. It is said that the fair beauty thought 
she was poisoned, and that gave her a right to have guards ; she 
is still languishing, but so full of her grandeur that you must 
imagine something precisely contrary to that little violet [La Val- 
liere], who hid herself in the grass, and was ashamed of being a 
mistress, a mother, and a duchesse ; that will never be the model." 
—Mme de Sevigne. 

Louise Adelaide de Chartres, daughter of the Due 
d'Orleans and granddaughter of Louis XIV. and Mme de 
Montespan, became Abbess of Chelles in 17 19. Her 
grandmother, Elizabeth Charlotte, writes — 

" She persisted in her project of becoming a nun ; it seems to 
me she suits the world better ; . . . but it is a craze that has taken 
rest in her brain. She has all the tastes of a boy ; she loves dogs, 
horses, riding ; all day long she is handling powder, making fuses 
or other fire-works ; she has a pair of pistols, with which she is 
always shooting. She has no fear of anything in the world ; she 
cares for nothing that women like ; she does not even take care 
of her appearance. This is my reason for not being able to fancy 
that she will make a good nun." — ATe'moires de Madame. 

The abbey was totally destroyed at the Revolution, and 
the tombs of Clotaire, Bathilde, and the numerous prin- 
cesses who had reigned as abbesses perished with it. A 
few statues which belonged to the abbey ornament the 
parish church. 

45 k, Meaux (Hotel du Grand Cerf; des Trots J^ois), in 
the flourishing and prosperous Jfays Meldois — a vast fruit 
and vegetable garden, an attractive old city, worth staying 
to see. The Cathedral is seen from the station, rising 
above the trees of the pleasant public walks. It was begun 
in the XII. c, but was only finished in the XVI. c. On 
the north-west is a massive square tower. The interior, 
of the XV. c. and XVI. c, is exceedingly beautiful and 



258 J^A YS NEAR PARIS 

harmonious ; faultless as far as it reaches, it impresses 
more than many grander buildings. 

In the right aisle of the choir is the monument by 
Buixiel (1822) of Bossuet, the most illustrious bishop of 
Meaux ; he is buried at the entrance to the sacristy. 

" He was a man to whom honor, virtue, uprightness were as 
inseparable as his knowledge and vast learning. His place as 
tutor of Monseigneur had made him familiarly acquainted with 
the king, who more than once consulted him concerning his 
scruples. Bossuet often spoke to him about his mode of life 
with a freedom worthy of the first ages and the first bishops of 
the Church. More than once he checked the course of disorder ; 
he ventured to pursue the king, who escaped from him. He 
made at last all bad conduct cease, and he succeeded in crown- 
ing this great work by the last blows that drove away from the 
court for ever Mme de Montespan.'" — St. Simon, ^ '' Mimoires." 

In the left choir aisle is the tomb of Philippe de Cas- 
tile, son of the Seigneur de Chenoise, 1627, with his 
kneeling figure; and, opposite, the beautiful flamboyant 
portal called Porte Maugarni, 

Entered to the left of the cathedral fagade is the 
Eveche, of the XV. c. and XVI. c. Visitors are admitted 
by the portress to the charming old-fashioned garden be- 
hind the palace, designed by Lenotre, covered with snow- 
drops in early spring. It is backed by a sunny terrace 
upon the walls, ending in a pavilion, where Bossuet spent 
much of his time, but which is no longer furnished. Here 
were composed many of those sermons (which began in 
improvisations at the Hotel de Rambouillet) in which, 
with thorough knowledge and use of the Fathers, and in 
kingly splendor of style, the great bishop chiefly aimed at 
upholding the majesty of the Church doctrines, and making 
of theological dogma a living reality. He is, however, al- 
most better known by his funeral orations than by his 



ME A UX 



259 



sermons, though they are more artificial, and their high- 
sounding phrases would now be unendurable. 

"The Evech^ is full of historic associations, besides being 
very curious in itself. Here have slept many noteworthy person- 
ages — Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, on their sad return 
from Varennes, June 24, 1791 ; Napoleon in 1814 ; Charles X. in 




LA MAITRISE, MEAUX. 

1828 ; later, General Moltke in 1870, who said on that occasion, 
'In three days, or a week at most, we shall be in Paris,' not 
counting on the possibilities of a siege." — Holidays in Eastern 
France. 



Behind the cathedral is the curious building, of the 
XIII. c, called La Maitrise. The bridges across the 
Marne are covered with mills, some of them very old and 
picturesque. 



XIV. 

FONTAINEBLEA U. 

THE Chemin cle Fer de Lyon (for Fontainebleau) 
starts from the Boulevard Mazas. It passes — 

I k. (right), the village of Conflans^ where the libertine 
archbishop of Paris, Harlay de Champvalon, built a cha- 
teau^ in which he died August 6, 1695, when Mme de 
Coulanges wrote to Mme de Sevigne : " II s'agit mainte- 
nant de trouver quelqu'un qui se charge de I'oraison fune- 
bre. On pretend qu'il n'y a que deux petites bagatelles 
qui rendent cet ouvrage difficile: la vie et la mort." The 
chateau continued to be the residence of the archbishops 
before and after the Revolution, till a service at St. Ger- 
main I'Auxerrois (Feb. 13, 1831), in honor of the Due de 
Berry, led to an insurrection in which it was sacked. The 
buildings are now occupied by a convent. 

5 k. Charenton-le-Pont, a position which has often 
proved of great military importance in defending or attack- 
ing Paris. Here was the famous Temple des Protestants^ 
authorized by Henri IV., capable of containing 14,000 
persons, where the Calvinists held their synods ; it per- 
ished at the revocation of the edict of Nantes. A little 
hospital of twelve beds, founded by Sebastien Leblanc in 
1642, was the origin of the enormous Hospital and Luna- 
tic Asylum of Charenton — the Bedlam of France. 



V ABB A YE 261 

7^. Maisofis-Alfort. — Maisons is remarkable for its 
magnificent Ecole veterinaire, founded 1766. There is a 
tramway hence to (4-^.) Creteuil, where Odette de Champ- 
divers, mistress of Charles VI., had a manor. The church 
is partly of the XIII. c, and has a fine west tower serving 
as a porch. 

15 /^. Villeneuve-St.- Georges. — Above the village is seen 
the Chateau de Beauregard, which belonged to Claude le 
Pelletier, Controller of Finances after Colbert. 

iS, k. Montgeron. — At Crosne, ik. distant, Boileau was 
born, at No. 3, Rue Simon, which is inscribed — 

" Ici naquit Boileau, ce maitre en I'art d'ecrire. 
II arma la raison des traits de la satire, 
Et, donnant le precepte et I'exemple a la fois, 
Du gout il etablit et pratiqua les lois." 

2^ k. east is Yeres^ where the chateau belonged in the 
XIV. c. to the family of Courtenay, then to that of Bude'. 
To the latter belonged Guillaume Bude, the learned secre- 
tary of Charles VIIL, of whose house the stately entrance, 
flanked by round brick towers, remains in the village. A 
spring, which was formerly in his garden, is called the Fon- 
taine Bude^ and bears a poetical inscription. 

At VAbbaye (i^.) are considerable remains of the 
Benedictine Abbey, founded in 1132 by the Comtesse 
d'Etampes, sister of Louis le Gros. Marie de Pisseleu, 
sister of the famous Anne, Comtesse d'Etampes, became 
its abbess in the XV. c. The buildings are now occupied 
by a woolen factory. A beautiful XV. c. portal remains. 
Few fragments exist of the convent of Camaldules, founded 
by the Due d'Angouleme, bastard of Charles IX., on the 
hill above the village. 2 k. distant is the ancient Chateau 
de la Grange, a very handsome brick and stone building, 
flanked by five towers, of the time of Henri IV. It be- 



2^2 DA YS NEAR PARIS 

longed to the widow of Henri de Guise, murdered by 
Henri HI., and afterwards to Louis XHI. (under whom 
it was called Grange-le-Roi) ; then to the Mare'chal de Saxe, 
the victor of Fontenoy. The ivy on the facade was planted 
by Fox, when he came here to visit La Fayette, after the 
peace of Amiens. 

26 k. Briinoy. — The old chateau of Francois de la 
Rochefoucauld, celebrated in the wars of the Fronde, was 
rebuilt in 1722 by the financier Paris de Montmartel, 
whose son Jean Paris, Marquis de Brunoy, squandered 
his large fortune in eccentricities. 

" At the death of his father, he wished ever}'-thing around 
him, things as well as people, to be in mourning. His domestics 
had to dress in black serge, every inhabitant received six ells of 
the same stuff, and his father's statues were draped with it. An 
immense piece of crape enveloped the chateau. The trees bore 
weepers ; the fountains and cascades were filled with black 
water ; floods of ink were thrown into the river and canal ; the 
church was painted black ; the cows, the sheep, the hens were 
dyed black." — Louis Barron, " Les Environs de Parish 

After the ruin of the marquis, Brunoy was bought by 
Monsieur, brother of Louis XVI. Chateau and park were 
alike destroyed at the Revolution. In 1S15, after the 
battle of Waterloo, Louis XVIII. conferred the title of 
Marquis de Brunoy upon the Duke of Wellington. 

45 k. Melun (Hotel du Grand-Monarque ; du Com- 
merce) , prettily situated on the Seine, was a favorite resi- 
dence of the kings of France from the XL c. Their castle, 
at the east end of the island in the Seine was the place 
where Philippe I. died; where St. Louis celebrated the 
marriage of his daughter Isabelle with Thibaut of Navarre, 
and which was besieged by Henry V. of England in 
1420. 



MEL UN 



263 



The chateau was inhabited by Louis XIV. as a boy, 
but was totally demolished in 1740. The market-place 
has a large fountain. Of the churches which remain, St. 
Aspais, in the main street, with good stained glass, is 
XV. c. ; Notre Dame, near the river, was founded in the 
X. c, and has two romanesque west towers. At the 
east end of the town is the Chateau de Vaux-le-Peny. 
Jacques Amyot, the learned bishop of Auxerre, was a 
native of Melun. 




STREET AT MELUN. 



6 k. north-east, by a walk or drive across a dreary up- 
land plain, is the noble Chateau de Vaux-Praslin, built by 
Fouquet, the famous " surintendant de finances" under 
Cardinal Mazarin, with magnificent gardens laid out by 
Lenotre, and internal decorations by Mignard and Charles 
Lebrun. 

"The palace and gardens of Vaux cost eighteen millions, or, 
in the value of to-day, about thirty-five ; Fouquet built the palace 
twice, and bought three hamlets, the ground of which was en- 



264 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



closed in the immense gardens, partly planted by Lenotre, and 
then regarded as the most beautiful in Europe. The fountains 
of Vaux, which since have seemed less than mediocre after those 
of Versailles, Marly, and St. Cloud, were prodigies ; but yet 
beautiful as was the house, the expenditure of eighteen millions, 
the vouchers for which still exist, proves that he was served with 
as little economy as he served the king with. It is true that Saint 
Germain and Fontainebleau, the only houses of pleasure occupied 
by the king, were far from approaching the beauty of Vaux ; 
Louis XIV. felt it and was annoyed. In every part of the house 
the arms and device of Fouquet are displayed ; a squirrel with 




CHATEAU DE VAUX-PRA.SLIN. 



the motto, Qtw non ascendant ? ' Whither can I not climb ? ' The 
king asked for an explanation ; the ambitious tone of the device 
did not serve to appease the monarch. The courtiers remarked 
that the squirrel was everywhere depicted as pursued by a snake, 
which is in the arms of Colbert, The fete was superior to those 
that Cardinal Mazarin had given, not only in splendor, but in 
taste, the Le Fdchetix of Moliere was represented there for the 
first time : Pelisson wrote the prologue, whicli. was admired. 
Public amusements conceal or prepare so often at court private 
disasters that, without the queen mother, the Superintendent and 
Pelisson would have been arrested at Vaux on the day of the 
fete."— Voltaire, " Siecle de Louis XIV," 



FONTAINEBLEA U 265 

The glories of the chateau are celebrated in the " Songe 
de Vaux " of La Fontaine : — 

" Tout combattit a Vaux pour le plaisir du roi : 
La musique, les eaux, les lustres, les etoiles." 

Yet, eighteen days after his fete, Fouquet was arrested at 
Nantes, and imprisoned for life at Pignerol by order of the 
king. The Due de Praslin, minister of Louis XIV., pur- 
chased the property, and it will ever be thought of in con- 
nection with the murder of the unhappy Duchesse de 
Praslin, daughter of Marechal Sebastiani, which occurred 
in Paris in 1847. 

The chateau rises nobly from its wide moat, surrounded 
by vast terraces. The Cour d'' Honneur has a vast avant- 
cour^ lined by les communs. It may be all seen through the 
grille which separates it from the road, inside which the 
sugar-refiner, who has bought the chateau from its aristo- 
cratic and liberal owners, allows no visitors. 

\k. west of Melun, near Dammarie-les-Lys, which has 
a church dating partly from the XII. c, are the very 
picturesque ruins of the XIII. c. Abhaye du Lys. 

51/^. Bois-le-Roi. — A little east of this, beyond the 
curve of the Seine, is the little village of Fonfame-le-Forf, 
near which was the famous abbey of Barbeaux, founded by 
Louis le Jeune in 11 47. The church, which contained the 
fine tomb of Louis VII., was demolished at the Revolu- 
tion, but the body of the king, wrapped in its silken 
shroud, was concealed by a cure, and removed to St. Denis 
in 1817. 

59 >^. Fo7itainebleau. 

The town is 3 k. from the station ; omnibus, 30 c. Hotels — 
de France et d'Angkferre, facing the chateau ; de FE-nrope, close by 
and very good; de Londres ; B^-istol ; V Aigle N'oir. Carriages — 
two horses, 4 f. first hour, 3 f. second hour ; one horse, 3 f. first 



>M 



JDA YS I^EAR PARIS 



hour, 2 f. second hour. By the day: two horses, 20 f., one 
horse, 10 f. 

The dull town is much frequented in the summer for 
the sake of its park and chateau — 

" Chasteau qui s'appelle 
Du gracieux surnom d'une fontaine belle." 

Louis le Jeune, who dated his acts of 1 137 and 1 141 " apud 
fontem Bleaudi," was probably the first king of France 




"^"^^^t^^P^^^ 



f^y^fr 



ABBAYE DU LYS. 



who lived here ; St. Louis could still sign his ordinances 
" Donne en nos deserts de Fontainebleau," though, after a 
fashion, the kings of France continued to make the place 
a residence. Philippe le Bel, Louis (X.) le Hutin, 
Philippe V. and Charles IV. were all born in the palace, 
and there Philippe le Bel died (as was believed, from the 
Templars' curse), in November, 1328 — " His face was still 
fair when it began to pale from some nameless disease, 
for he had neither fever nor visible malady." Philippe V. 
also died at Fontainebleau. 



FONTAINEBLEA U 267 

But the golden age of Fontainebleau came with the 
Renaissance and Francois I., who wished to make Fon- 
tainebleau the most glorious palace in the world. " The 
Escurial ! " says Brantome, "what of that? See how long 
it was of building ! Good workmen like to be quick 
finished. With our king it was otherwise. Take Fontaine- 
bleau and Chambord. When they were projected, when 
once the plumb-line, and the compass, and the square, and 
the hammer were on the spot, then in a few years we saw 
the Court in residence there." 

II Rosso was first (1531) employed to carry out the 
ideas of Frangois I. as to painting, and then Sebastian 
Serlio was summoned from Bologna in 154 1 to fill the place 
of " surintendant des bastiments et architecte de Fontaine- 
bleau." II Rosso — Giovambattista — had been a Florentine 
pupil of Michelangelo, but refused to follow any master, 
having, as Vasari says, "a certain inkling of his own." 
Francois I. was delighted with him at first, and made him 
head of all the Italian colony at Fontainebleau, where he 
was known as " Maitre Roux." But in two years the king 
was longing to patronize some other genius, and implored 
Giulio Romano, then engaged on the Palazzo del Te at 
Mantua, to come to him. The great master refused to 
come himself, but in his place sent the Bolognese Prima- 
ticcio, who became known in France as Le Primatice. 
The new-comer excited the furious jealousy of II Rosso, 
whom he supplanted in favor and popularity, and who, 
after growing daily more morose, took poison in 1541. 
Then Primaticcio, who, to humor his rival, had been sent 
into honorable exile (on plea of collecting antiquities at 
Rome), was summoned back, and destroyed most of II 
Rosso's frescoes, replacing them by his own. Those that 
remain are now painted over, and no works of II Rosso 



2^8 i)A YS NEAR PARIS 

are still in existence (unless in engravings) except some of 
his frescoes at Florence. 

With the Italian style of buildings and decorations, the 
Italian system of a Court adorned by ladies was first 
introduced here under Frangois I., and soon became a 
necessity. 

" Bien souvent ay-je "veu nos roys aller aux champs, aux 
villes et ailleurs, y demeurer et s'esbattre quelques jours, et n'y 
mener point les dames ; mais nous estions si esbahis, si perdus, 
si faschez, que pour huict jours que nous faisions de sejour 
separez d'elles et de leurs beaux yeux, ils nous paroissoient un 
an et toujours a souhaitter : ' Quand serons-nous a la court?' 
n'appelant la court bien souvent la ou estoit le roy, mais ou 
estoient la reyne et les dames." — Brantdme. 

Under Francois I., his beautiful mistress, the Duchesse 
d'Etampes — "la plus belle des savantes, et la plus savante 
des belles," directed all the fetes. In this she was suc- 
ceeded, under Henri II., by Diane de Poitiers, whose 
monogram, interwoven with that of the king, appears in all 
the buildings of his time, and who is represented as a 
goddess (Diana) in the paintings of Primaticcio. 

Under Francois II., in 1560, by the advice of the 
queen-mother, an assembly of notables was summoned at 
Fontainebleau ; and here, accompanied by her 150 beau- 
tiful maids of honor, Catherine de Medicis received the 
embassy of the catholic sovereigns sent to demand the 
execution of the articles of the Council of Trent, and call- 
ing for fresh persecution of the reformers. 

Much as his predecessors had accomplished, Henri 
IV. did more for the embellishment of Fontainebleau, 
where the monogram of his mistress, Gabrielle d'Estrees, 
is frequently seen mingled with that of his wife, Marie de 
Medicis. All the Bourbon kings had a passion for hunt- 
ing, for which Fontainebleau afforded especial facilities. 



CHATEAU BE FONTAINEBLEAU 269 

"The king thought only of the pleasures of the chase. It 
seemed as if the courtiers were permitting themselves an epi- 
gram, when they were heard saying seriously, on the days that 
Louis XV. was not hunting, ' The king is doing nothing to-day.''" 
— Alme Campan. 

"The same day, his Majesty, after having been a-hawking, 
had a wolf-hunt, and ended the day by a third hunt of a stag, that 
lasted till night, in spite of three or four hours' rain. They were 
then six leagues from the start. The king arrived a little tired. 
This is what princes call amusement ; about tastes and pleasures 
there is no need to dispute." — Sully. 

It was at Fontainebleau that Louis XIII. was born, 
and that the Marechal de Biron was arrested. Louis XIII. 
only lived here occasionally. In the early reign of Louis 
XIV. the palace was lent to Christina, of Sweden, who 
had abdicated her throne. 

It was in one of the private apartments, occupying the 
site of the ancient Galerie des Cerfs, now destroyed, that 
she ordered the execution of her chief equerry, Monal- 
deschi, whom she had convicted of treason. She listened 
patiently to his excuses, but was utterly unmoved by them 
and his entreaties for mercy. She provided a priest to 
confess him, after which he was slowly butchered by blows 
with a sword on the head and face, as he dragged himself 
along the floor, his body being defended by a coat of 
mail.^ 

" Of whatever fault Monaldeschi was guilty towards the philo- 
sophic queen, she ought, as she had renounced royal t)^, have 
asked for justice, not done it. The case was not that of a queen 
punishing a subject, but of a woman terminating an affair of gal- 
lantry by a murder ; the case of one Italian procuring the assas- 
sination of another by order of a Swedish woman in a palace of 
the King of France, No one ought to be put to death but by the 
law ; Christina, in Sweden, would not have had the right to as- 
sassinate any one, and certainly what would have been a crime at 

^ See the terrible narrative of Pere Lebel Mathurin de Fontainebleau, 
called in to confess Monaldeschi. 



270 BAYS NEAR PARIS 

Stockholm was not permissible at Fontainebleau. Those who 
have justified this deed deserve to serve such masters. This 
shame and cruelty tarnished the philosophy that had made Chris- 
tina quit a throne. She would have been punished in England, 
and every country where law reigns, but France closed her eyes 
to this assault on the authority of the king, the right of nations 
and humanity." — Voltaire, " Siecle de Louis XIV." 

Even after the creation of the palaces of Versailles 
and Marly, Louis XIV. continued to make an annual 
"voyage de Fontainebleau." He compelled his whole 
Court to follow him ; if any of his family were ill, and un- 
able to travel by road, he made them come by water ; for 
himself, he slept on the way, either at the house of the 
Due d'Antin (son of Mme de Montespan) or of the Mare- 
chal de Villeroy. It was here that the Grand Dauphin 
was born, in t66i. Here, also, it was that Mme de Main- 
tenon first appeared at the councils, and that the king 
publicly asked her advice as to whether he should accept 
the throne of Spain for the Due d'Anjou. Here, also, in 
1685, he signed the revocation of the edict of Nantes. 
The great Conde died in the palace. Louis XV. was mar- 
ried here to Marie Leczinska in 1725 ; and here the Dau- 
phin, his son, died in 1765. Louis XVI. delighted in Fon- 
tainebleau for its hunting facilities. 

After the Revolution, Napoleon I. restored the chateau 
and prepared it for Pius VII., who came to France to 
crown him, and was here (January 25, 18 13) induced to 
sign the famous Concordat de Fontainebleau, by which he 
abjured his temporal sovereignty. 

The chateau which witnessed the abdication of the 
Pope, also saw that of Napoleon I., who made his touch- 
ing farewell to the soldiers of the Vieille-Garde in the 
Cour du Cheval-Blanc, before setting off for Elba. 

" The guard itself was at Fontainebleau. He wished to bid it 



CHATEAU DE FONTAINEBLEAU 271 

adieu. He ordered it to be drawn up in a circle around him in the 
court of the chateau, and then, in presence of his old soldiers, 
who were deeply moved, he pronounced the following words : 
' Soldiers, my old companions in arms, whom I have always 
found treading the path of honor, we must at last part. I could 
have remained longer amoiig you, but it would have prolonged a 
cruel strife, added, perhaps, civil war to foreign war, and I 
could not resolve to longer lacerate the breast of France. Enjoy 
the repose which you have so justly earned, and be happ3^ As 
for me, do not sorrow for me. There still remains a mission for 
me, and it is to accomplish it that I consent to live ; namely, to 
tell to posterity the great deeds we have done together. I would 
gladly clasp you all in my arms ; but let me embrace that flag 
which represents you. . . .' Then, drawing towards him Gen- 
eral Petit, who bore the flag of the old guard, and who was the 
complete model of modest heroism, he pressed to his bosom the 
flag and the general, in the midst of the cries and tears of those 
present ; he then flung himself into the depths of his carriage, 
his eyes moist, and softening even the very commissioners 
charged to accompany him." — Thiers, ''^ L' Empire." 

The Cour du Cheval-Blanc^ the largest of the five courts 
of the palace, took its name from a plaster copy of the 
horse of Marcus Aurelius at Rome, destroyed 1626. Re- 
cently it has been called the Coiir des Adieux, on account 
of the farewell of Napoleon I. in 18 14. It was once sur- 
rounded by buildings on all sides ; one was removed in 
18 10, and replaced by a grille. The principal faQade is 
composed of five pavilions with high roofs, united by 
buildings two stories high. The beautiful twisted staircase 
in front of the central pavilion was executed by Lemercier 
for Louis XIII., and replaces a staircase by Philibert De- 
lorme. Facing this pavilion, the mass of buildings on the 
right is the Aile Neuve of Louis XV., built on the site of 
the Galerie d'Ulysse, to the destruction of the precious 
works of Primaticcio and Niccolo dell' Abbate, with which 
it was adorned. Below the last pavilion, near the grille, 
was the Grotte du Jardin-des-Pins, where James V. of 



272 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



Scotland, coming over to marry Magdalen of France, 
daughter of Francois L, watched her bathing with her 
ladies, by the aid of a mirror. In the left angle is the 
Jeu de Paume, occupying the site of the Galerie de Chev- 
reuils, destroyed by fire. Beginning at this corner of the 
faQade, the Pavilions de VHorloge and des Amies stand on 
either side of the Chapelle de la Sainte-Trinite. The cen- 
tral is called the Pavilion des Peintures^ because Frangois 




CHATEAU DE FONTAINEBLEAU. 



I. collected the works of the great Italian masters there j 
the fifth at the right corner is the Pavilion des Reines^ built 
by Catherine de Medicis and Anne of Austria. 

To the west of the Cour du Cheval-Blanc, and commu- 
nicating with it, is the Cour de la Fontaine, the main front 
of which is formed by the Galerie de Frangois I. This 
faces the great tank, into which Gaston d'Orleans, at eight 
years old, caused one of the courtiers to be thrown, whom 



CHATEAU BE FONTAINEBLEAU 



273 



he considered to have spoken to him disrespectfully. One 
side of the Cour de la Fontaine, that towards the Jardin 
Anglais, is terminated by a pavilion of the time of Louis 
XV. ; the other, formerly decorated with statues, is at- 
tributed to Serlio. The fountain from which the court 
takes its name has been often changed ; a poor work by 
Petitot now replaces the grand designs of the time of Fran- 
cois I. and Henri IV. Beyond this court we find (on the 
left) the Forte Doree, which faces the Chaussee de Maifttenon, 
between the "Etang" and Parterre; it was built under 
Frangois I., and decorated by Primaticcio with paintings, 
restored in 1835. It was by this entrance that Charles V. 
arrived at the palace in 1539. 

The Porte Doree leads into the Cour Ovale (formerly 
du Do7ijoii) surrounded by buildings which date from St. 
Louis, though so completely altered that the only appar- 
ent remnant of the feudal fortress is the tourelle attached 
to the Pavilion St. Louis at the bottom of the court. The 
noble facade on the right, in the two ranges of arches, was 
mostly built by Francois L, and finished by Henri IV. j 
the beautiful peristyle is attributed to Serlio ; the capitals 
of its pilasters and columns bear the " F " of Francois I. 
In the centre of the south side is the Chapelle St. Saturnin. 
The Pavilion du Dauphin^ beyond this, is of Henri IV. 

"The plan is as irregular as anything in gothic art, and there 
is a picturesque abandon about the whole design which is very- 
charming and appropriate to the situation ; but, strange to say, 
the effect of the whole is marred by the coarseness and vulgarity 
of the details." — Fergusson. 

The curious Porte Dauphine (or Baptistere), which 
forms the approach to the court from the outer side, was 
built by Henri IV., and received its name at the baptism 
of Louis XIIL, which took place beneath it j it bears the 



274 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

initials of Henri IV. and Marie de Medicis. In front of 
the Porte Dauphine, on the outer side, are two colossal 
Hermes, flanking the entrance to the Cotir des Offices. 

The interior of the palace — open daily from 1 1 to 4 — 
is usually shown in the following order. Entering by the 
Escalier de Fer a Cheval^ in the Cour du Cheval-Blanc, we 
turn left to — 

La Chap elk de la Sainte-Trinite, built (1529) by Fran- 
cois I. in the place of the Oratory of St. Louis, of which a 
gothic arcade remains at the end of the nave. Henri IV. 
was urged to its rich decorations by the ambassador of 
Spain, who said, when shown over the palace — '' Cette 
maison serait plus belle, sire, si Dieu y etait loge aussi bien 
que Votre Majeste." 

The paintings of the vault, by Frhninet^ were continued 
under Louis XIII. ; these are his only existing works. 
The altar, by Bordogni, dates from Louis XIII. Here 
Marie Louise d'Orleans, daughter of the Regent d'Or- 
leans, was married to the Prince of Asturias ; here Louis 
XV. was married to Marie Leczinska ; and here the last 
Due d'Orleans, son of Louis Philippe, was married to 
Princess Helene of Mecklembourg. 

A staircase now leads to the first floor, and we enter — 

The Apparte7nents de Napoleon /., all furnished in the 
style of the first empire. The Cabmet de P Abdication is the 
place where he resigned his power. His bedroom (con- 
taining the bed of Napoleon I., the cradle of the King of 
Rome, and a cabmet of Marie Louise) leads to the Salle 
du Conseil, which was the Salon de Famille under Louis 
Philippe ; its decorations are by Boucher, and are the best 
of the period. It was in leaving this room that the Mare- 
chal de Biron was arrested under Henri IV., in a cabinet 
which is now thrown into the adjoining Salle du Trbne 



CHATEAU BE FONTAINEBLEAU 275 

(previously the bedroom of the Bourbon kings), dating 
from Charles IX., but decorated under Louis XIII. A 
fine portrait by Philippe de Champaigne represents Louis 
XIII. It is accompanied by his device — Erit haec quoque 
cognita monstris, in allusion to his vehemence in the exter- 
mination of heresy. 

The adjoining Boudoir de Marie Antoinette is a beauti- 
ful little room, painted by Barthelemy. The metal work 
of the windows is said to have been wrought by Louis 
XVI. himself, who had his workshop here, as at Versailles. 
The richly-decorated Chambre a Coucher de la Reine was 
inhabited by Marie de Medicis, Marie Therese, Marie 
Antoinette, Marie Louise, and Marie Amelie. The silk 
hangings were given by the town of Lyons to Marie An- 
toinette on her marriage. The Salon de Musique was the 
Salon du Jeu de la Reine, under Marie Antoinette. The 
Ancien Salon de Clorinde, or des Dames d^Honnetir, is 
named from its paintings by Dubois from the Gerusalemme 
Liberata. 

The Galerie de Diajte, built by Napoleon I. and Louis 
XVIII. , replaces the famous frescoed gallery of Henri IV. 
It is now turned into a library for the use of the town. In 
the centre is a picture of Henri IV. on horseback, by 
Mauzaise. The Salle des Chasses contain pictures of hunt- 
ing scenes under Louis XV. 

Entering the Grands Apparte7nents^ we pass through the 
Salon des Tapisseries, hung with fine Flemish tapestry, to 
the Salo7i de Francois I., with a chimney-piece of his date ; 
its medallion, representing Mars and Venus, is attributed 
to Primaticcio. The Salo7i de Louis XIII. is the room in 
which that king was born, in 1601 : it dates from Frangois 
L, and was decorated by Henri IV. Louis XIII. is rep- 
resented as a child, riding on a dolphin, in one of the 



276 DA YS NEAR PARIS 

paintings of the ceiling. Below, let into the panelling, is 
the first glass mirror seen in France. The next halls, of 
the Pavilion St. Loitis, were decorated under Louis Phi- 
lippe. 

The halls of the south wing begin with the Salle des 
Gardes^ the chimney-piece of which is formed by fragments 
from the Salon de la belle Cheminee, now destroyed. The 
Escalier du Roi, built by Louis XV., leads to the room oc- 
cupied by the Duchesse d'Etampes, now called, from its 
decorations by Primaticcio, La Chambre d^ Alexandre. Five 
prettily-decorated and graceful rooms compose the Ap- 
partement de Mme de MaintcJion. 

" At Fontainebleau I have very pretty apartments, subject to 
the same cold and the same warmth, and having a window of the 
size of the largest arcades, where there is neither shutter, nor 
sash, nor screen, because the symmetry would be spoiled." — Mine 
de Maintenon a la Princesse des Ursins, 11 Jtiillet, 1 713. 

We now reach the glorious Galerie d' Henri II. (or Salle 
des Fetes), built by Frangois I., and decorated by Henri 
IL The walnut-wood ceiling and the panelling of the 
walls are of marvellous richness. Over the chimney is a 
gigantic H, and the initials of Henri II. are constantly 
seen interlaced with those of Diane de Poitiers. 

" The emblems of Diane, the bows, the arrows, the crescent 
above all, are lavished right and left on the chimney-piece ; two 
pictures represent Diane the Huntress and Diane in the Inlernal 
Regions. Finally, in the last arcade to the right is painted the 
portrait, not of the goddess, but of the mistress herself. The 
necessary attributes of Venus and Cupid are added to this figure 
after nature." — Poisson, 

The sixty paintings on the walls, including eight large 
compositions, were executed by Niccolo delP Abbate^ and 
are probably the finest decorations of the kind existing in 
France. 



Chateau de fontainebleau 277 

The Chapelle Haute (especial order required) was built 
by Frangois I., 1545. Below it is the Chapelle St. Satunim, 
built by Francois I. on the site, and according to the pro- 
portions of the ancient chapel which was consecrated by 
Thomas a Becket. The altar used by Pius VII. in his 
apartment replaces the original altar, which bore the de- 
vices of Henry II. and Diane de Poitiers. From the 
chapel a corridor leads to the hall constructed by Louis 
Philippe under the gallery of Henri II., whence by the 
Porte Doree and the Cour Ovale we re-enter the chateau 
by the Pavilion St. Louis. 

The Galerie de Francois I. is a splendid work of the 
renaissance. The salamanders and other devices of Fran- 
cois I. are to be seen on all sides. The original paintings 
were mostly by II Rosso, but have been painted over ; the 
Danae is attributed to Primaticcio. 

"At the request of the Dauphin Henri, Maitre Rouxhad rep- 
resented Diane de Poitiers as the nymph of the Fountain Bleau. 
In his fresco she reclines, a Michelangelesque creature, among 
the bulrushes, where she is discovered by Bleau, the hound. An 
Amazon rather than a nymph, with a grave, stern head, mourn- 
fully bent, she presents little likeness to the Dauphin's faded and 
exquisite Diane. But Marie d'Etampes, the mistress of the king, 
was furious at this apotheosis of her elderly rival. She stormed, 
she raged, she sulked, till Maitre Claude Badouin was employed 
to paint out the detested fresco. Fortunately Rosso had time to 
copy it first, and a contemporary engraving by Rene Boyvin also 
attests the excellence of the design. A Latin inscription records 
the wrath of Rosso : ' O Phidias, O Apelles, could your age con- 
ceive so beautiful a thing as the subject of this painting? — Diana, 
resting from the chase, and pouring out the waters of the 
Fountain Bleau, which Francis I., most puissant king of the 
French, father of the fine arts and of letters, left unfinished in 
his own palace ! ' " — Mary F. Robinson, ^^ Magazine of Art" March, 
1885. 

The rooms usually shown last are those formerly in- 



278 ^A YS NEAR PARIS 

habited by Catherine de Medicis and Anne of Austria, 
and which, under the first empire, were used by Pius VII., 
under Louis Philippe, by the Duke and Duchess of Or- 
leans. The most interesting of these are the Chambrea 
Coucher, which bears the oft-repeated A L (the chiffre of 
Louis XIII. and Anne of Austria), and in which Pius VII. 
daily said mass, and the Salon, with its fine tapestry after 
Giulio Romano. The Galerie des Assiettes, adorned with 
Sevres china, only dates from Louis Philippe. Hence, by 
a gallery in the Aile Neuve, hung with indifferent pictures, 
we may visit the Salle dii Theatre, retaining its arrange- 
ments for the emperor, empress, and court. 

At the corner of the parterre, near the railing of the 
park, is a detached building of Frangois I., called the 
Pavilion de Sully, from the residence of that minister — 
" surintendant des batiments de la couronne." 

The Gardens, as seen now, are mostly as they were re- 
arranged by Lenotre for Louis XIV. The most frequented 
garden is the Parterre, entered from the Place du Cheval- 
Blanc. In the centre of the Jardin Anglais (entered 
through the Cour de la Fontaine) was the Fontaine Bleau^ 
which is supposed by some to have given a name to the 
palace. The Etang has a pavilion in the centre, where 
the Czar Peter got drunk. The carp in the pool, overfed 
with bread by visitors, are said to be, some of them, of im- 
mense age. John Evelyn mentions the carp of Fontaine- 
bleau, " that come familiarly to hand." 

The Jardin de /' Oraftgerie, on the north of the palace, 
called Jardin des Buis under Frangois L, contains a good 
renaissance portal. To the east of the parterre and the 
town is the park, which has no beauty, but harmonizes well 
with the chateau. 

Visitors should not fail to drive in the Forest, 80 k. in 



FOREST OF FONTAINEBLEAU 



279 



circuit, and, if they return late, may look out for its black 
huntsman — " le grand veneur. '^ 

" The question is still asked, of what nature was the spectre 
seen so often and by so many eyes in the forest of Fontainebleau ? 
It was a phantom surrounded by a pack of dogs, which were 
heard and seen at a distance, but it disappeared when any one 
approached." — Sully. 

The forest was a favorite hunting-ground of the kings 
of France to a late period. It was here that the Marquis 
de Tourzel, Grand Provost of PYance, husband of the gov- 
erness of the royal children, fractured his skull, his horse 
bolting against a tree, when hunting with Louis XVI., in 
November, 1786. The forest is the especial land of 
French artists, who overrun and possess it in the summer. 
There are innumerable direction-posts, in which all the red 
marks — put up by Napoleon III., because so few peasants 
could read — point to the town. The following points are 
of interest : — 

Rockers d^Avo?t, 7 k. (going and returning). 

Mail de Henri IV. and Rocher JBouligny — a walk of 
three hours. 

Parquet de Monts-Aigus (only open Thursdays and Sun- 
days from 10 to 6), and Grotte du Serme?tt, three hours. 

Gorges du Houx, Grottes du Parjure and du Chasseur 
Noir — a round of 10 k. 

Mont Ussy and Vallee du Nid de VAigle. 

Fort des Moulins and Calvaire, two and a half hours. 

Vallee de la Solle, Futaie du Gros-Fouteau, Fontaines 
Sanguinede et die Mont Chauvet — a walk of four hours. If 
only one excursion be made, this may be commended. 
Leave Fontainebleau by the Barriere de Paris, and, from 
the Rond-Point, follow (right) the blue arrows. Some of 
the oaks in this part of the forest are magnificent. 



2So ^A VS NEAk PARIS 

The Gorges d^ Apremont [i^ k. going and returning) are 
very picturesque. 

The Gorges de Tranchard^ spoilt artistically, as well 
as the Gorges d'Apremont, by young plantations, were in- 
habited by hermits from the time of Philippe Auguste to 
Louis XIV. 

The Gorge aux Loups (five hours on foot going and re- 
turning) is a picturesque spot, but a dull walk, and is best 
combined with other places in a carriage-excursion. But 
it is always better to take a carriage for the longer dis- 
tances, selecting a coachman who knows the forest and is 
not always suggesting imaginary difficulties. The most 
usual drives are the Tillaie du Roi, the Hauteur de la Sol/e, 
Tranchard, the Fort de V Empereur^ and then to the Gorges 
d^Apremont, or the Gorge aux Loups. 

" Fountaine Beleau forrest is very great and memorable for 
exceeding abundance of great massy stones in it, whereof many 
millions are so great, that twenty carts, each being drawn with 
ten oxen, are not able to moue one of them out of their place. 
The plenty of them is so great both in the forrest and neare unto 
it, that many hils and dales are exceeding full of them, in so 
much that a man being a farre off from the hils and other places 
whereon they grow, would thinke they were some great city or 
towne." — Coryafs " Crudities" 1611. 

The beautiful combinations of rocks and trees were not 
admired formerly as they are now. 

"7 March, 1644. I went with some compan}^ towards Fon- 
tainebleau. By the way we pass through a forest so prodigiously 
encompass'd with hideous rocks of whitish hard stone, heaped 
one on another in mountainous heights, that I think the like is 
not to be found elsewhere. It abounds with staggs, wolves, 
boares,' and not long after a lynx or ounce was kill'd amongst 
them, which had devour'd some passengers." — John Evelyn. 

An excursion may be made from Fontainebleau to (8 ^.) 
the pretty old town of Moret, with a station on the Lyons 



MO RET 



281 



railway. The kings of France had a chateau at Moret, of 
which the principal tower remains, dating from Louis le 
Gros (1128). Henri IV. gave it to one of his mistresses, 
Jacqueline de Bueil, with the title of Comtesse de Moret. 
At either end of the principal street is a fine old gothic 
gateway, relic of the fortifications of Charles VII. (1420), 
and one of these rises most picturesquely at the end of the 
bridge of fourteen arches over the Loing. The church, 




MORET. 



built by Louis le Jeune, and consecrated by Thomas a 
Becket in 1 166, only retains a choir of that date. The 
triple nave and the transepts (with mullioned windows 
filling all the surface of the gable wall) are XIII. c. : the 
tower XV. c. ; the principal portal XVI. c. South of the 
church is a timbered house of XV. c. and a little Hospice, 
where the nuns make excellent barley-sugar. In the 
main street, a renaissance house is inscribed " Concordia 
res parvae crescunt, 16 18." 



XV. 

corbeil, savigny-sur-orge, montlhery, 
£tampes. 

THIS is a pleasant summer day's excursion from Paris. It is 
best to take a single ticket at the Gare de Lyon for Cor- 
beil. See the place, and have luncheon at the "Belle Image." 
In returning, only take a ticket to Juvisy, where cross to the 
Chemin de Fer d'Orleans (alongside) and take a ticket to St. 
Michel : here an omnibus for Montlhery meets the train. In the 
evening, artists may think it worth while to stop between two 
trains to sketch the picturesque chateau of Savigny, close to the 
station. It is necessary to inquire if your carriage goes to the 
Gare d'Orleans, otherwise you may enter one which follows the 
Chemin de Fer de Ceinture. 



The trains for Corbeil from the Gare de Lyon cross an 
ugly plain, but approach the Seine on the right, and low 
wooded hills on the left, where the main line is left at — 

i^k. Villeneiive-St, Georges. — The line crosses the Seine 
to Juvisy. 

24^. Ris-Orangis. — Just beyond the station the line 
passes the Chateau de Fremont, which once belonged to 
the Templars, afterwards to the President de Thou, the 
historian, who had alluded to the profligacy of an uncle ^ 
of Richelieu in his works, which caused the minister of 
Louis XIII. to exclaim — " De Thou a mis mon nom dans 

1 "Moine apostat et coupable de toutes sort^s de crimes." 



CORBEIL 283 

son histoire ; je mettrai son nom dans la mienne/' and De 
Thou himself having died in 161 7, Richelieu beheaded his 
son in 1642. This is the station for the Forest of Smart, 
which is traversed by the road from Paris to Melun, and is 
celebrated by an incident which occurred to Louis XV. 

*' Hunting one day in the forest of S6nard, in a year when 
bread was extremely dear, he met a man on horseback, carr}^- 
ing a coffin. ' Where are you taking that coffin ?' said the king. 

' To the village of ■. replied the peasant.' ' Is it for a man 

or a woman?' 'For a man.' 'What did he die of?' 'Of 
hunger,' replied the villager abruptly. The king put spur to his 
horse and asked no more questions." — Mjne Canipan. 

There are a number of fine chateaux near this, the 
most important being that of Fetit-Bourg, pleasantly situ- 
ated above the Seine^, which belonged to the Due d'Antin, 
legitimate eldest son of Mme de Montespan, who received 
his mother's former lover and Mme de Maintenon here 
with great honors. Louis XV. also often resorted hither 
with his mistresses. At the beginning of the Revolution 
it was inhabited by the Duchesse de Bourbon. At the 
invasion of the allies, Schwartzenburg established himself in 
the chateau and treated there with Ney and Coulaincourt 
upon the abdication of Napoleon I. After the Restoration 
the chateau was restored by Aguado, Marquis de las 
Marismas. 

30 k. Fury-sur-Seine, connected by a suspension bridge 
with Ftiolles, which belonged to the husband of Mme de 
Pompadour. In later days the chateau was inhabited 
by Count Walewski, Minister of Foreign Affairs to Napo- 
leon III. 

31 k. Corl^ezV (Hotel Bellevue, near the bridge : de la 
Belle Image, good and reasonable)^ a considerable town, 
at the meeting of the Essonne and the Seine, which is 
crossed by a handsome bridge of five arches. Of its five 



2^4 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

ancient churches only one remains, the collegiate church 
of St. Exupere or St. Spire, founded by Haymon, first 
Comte de Corbeil, in 950, rebuilt 1144, and served till 
1790 by a chapter composed of a secular abbe, twelve 
canons, and six chaplains. It is approached by a very 
picturesque gateway, Porte du Cioitre, from the principal 




PORTE DU CLOITRE, CORBEIL. 



Street. The west porch is under the tower. In a chapel 
right of the principal entrance is the tomb of Count Hay- 
mon, who is said to have built the church in honor of a 
victory over a two-headed dragon, and who died on his 
return from a pilgrimage to Italy seven years after its 
foundation. In the same chapel is the monument of 



ESSONNES 285 

Jacques de Bourgoin, who founded the College of Corbeil 
in 1 66 1. The curious shrine of St. Spire was melted 
down at the Revolution. In the collegiate buildings Abe'- 
lard established his school, when he fled from Melun. 

Nothing remains of the church of St. Jean de I'Ermi- 
tage, which contained the relics of Sts. Quirin and Pience ; 
of Notre Dame, which claimed to have those of St. Yon ; 
or of St. Jean en I'lsle, founded by Isemburge, the di- 
vorced Danish wife of Philippe Auguste, who was buried 
in its south transept (1256), under a fine tomb, bearing a 
metal effigy. Near this church was the Palais de la Reine, 
usually given as a residence to queens-dowager of France, 
where the chamber of Isemburge was preserved till the 
Revolution, when it perished like the tomb. Near the 
bridge, on the left bank of the river, was the chateau 
where Charles VIII. imprisoned the famous Georges 
d'Amboise in 1487. 

Twenty minutes' walk from Corbeil is the manufacturing 
village of Essonnes, where Bernardin de St. Pierre had a 
cottage, which still exists, though much altered. 

Those who visit Montlhery after spending the morning at 
Corbeil must remember to change their line at Juvisy, to the 
Chemin de Fer d'Orleans. 

Beyond Corbeil, on the line to Montargis, is — 

41 k, Meunecy, with a XIII. c. church, near which the 
Dues de Villeroy had a fine chateau, which perished in 
the Revolution. 

53 k. La Ferte-Alais (Firmitas Adelaidis) has an inter- 
esting XII c. church, with a stone spire. 

60 k. Boiitigny, with an old gateway. The church is 

XII. c. 

65 k. Maisse (7 k. east is Milly, with a XIII. c. church 
containing a sculptured retable offered to St. Julienne. 



286 ^^ ^-^ NEAR PARIS 

The chateau dates from 1479, ^"^^ the curious halles are of 
the same period). 

77 k. Malesherbes. — The church (XII. c— XIII, c.) has 
an octagonal tower, and contains a St. Se'pulcre, sculptured, 
in 1622, for the convent of Cordeliers. A bust of M. de 
Malesherbes was given by Louis XVIII. In the church- 
yard is a curious XIII. c. tomb. The chateau, originally 
XV. c, but rebuilt, is still inhabited by the descendants of 
the brave defender of Louis XVI. On the north is the 
restored XV. c. Chateau de Roiiville. 



The Chemin de Fer d'Orle'ans starts from the Boule- 
vard de Hopital. It passes — 

dk. Vitry-su7'- Seine ^ with a XVlI. c. chateau of which 
the owner, M. de Petitval, with his mother-in-law, two sis- 
ters, and five servants were murdered, August 21, 1796, by 
a band of masked robbers, who carried off the family pa- 
pers, and were never brought to justice. A little north is 
Ivry^ which has an old church, and where Claude Bosc 
du Bois, Prevot des Marchands, had a magnificent chateau 
in the XVII. c. The Duchesse d'Orleans, mother of Louis 
Philippe, resided at Ivry, which is now covered by manu- 
factories. 

\ok. Choisy-le-Roi, formerly Choissy- Mademoiselle, 
where "La Grande Mademoiselle," Mile de Montpensier, 
only daughter of the first marriage of Gaston, Due d'Or- 
leans, brother of Louis XIIL, employed F. Mansart to 
build a chateau. It was here that she wept for her hus- 
band, the Comte de Lauzun, imprisoned at Pignerol, and 
that she endowed the Due du Maine with the duchy of 
Aumale, the countship of Eu, and the principality of Dom- 
bes, to purchase his freedom from Louis XIV. The resto- 



CHOISY-LE-ROI 



287 



ration of Lauzun gave small satisfaction to Mademoiselle. 
He found that she had lost all good looks in pining for 
him, and treated her with cruel neglect. In vain she tlung 
herself at his feet, crying, " Reviens a moi^, qui t'aime tant," 
he answered, " Louise d'Orleans, tu as tort de pleurer, car 
tu me parais plus vieille et plus laide que jamais." 

" He retained his gallantry a very long time. Mademoiselle 
was jealous, and this embroiled them over and over again. I have 
heard Mme de Fontenilles say that, when she was at Eu with Made- 
moiselle, M. de Lauzun went to pass some time there, and could 
not refrain from running after the girls. Mademoiselle knew it, 
lost her temper, scratched him and drove him from her presence. 
The Comtesse de Fiesque patched it up : Mademoiselle appeared 
at the end of a gallery ; he was at the other, and he traversed the 
whole length of it on his knees till he came to the feet of Made- 
moiselle. These scenes, more or less violent, often recom- 
menced afterwards. He grew tired of being beaten, and in his 
turn, gave Mademoiselle a good sound beating ; this happened 
several times, till at last, tired of each other, they quarrelled once 
for good and all, and never saw each other again ; he had, how- 
ever, several portraits 'in his house, and always spoke of her 
with much respect. There is no doubt they were secretly mar- 
ried." — St. Simon, ''Me?noires" 

Mademoiselle bequeathed Choisy to Monseigneur, son 
of Louis XIV., who exchanged it for Meudon with Mme 
de Louvois, who lived here " toute Tete avec bonne com- 
pagnie, mais decente et tres-gaie, convenable a son %e." ^ 
Afterwards Choisy belonged to the Princesse de Conti, the 
Due de la Valliere, and eventually to Louis XV., when it 
became Choisy-le-Roi, and one of his favorite retreats. 
He employed Jacques Gabriel to decorate (and spoil) the 
architecture of Mansart and to build a smaller chateau for 
Mme de Pompadour. Both the chateaux were decorated 
by Chardin, Nattier, Boucher, Oudry, and other artists of 

^ St, Siiooii. 



288 I) A YS NEAR PARIS 

the day. In 1774 Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette held 
their Court here, but the Grand and the Petit Chateau were 
both utterly destroyed at the Revolution, and nothing re- 
mains except les graftds com^nuns, now occupied by a china 
manufactory. 

Close to Choisy are the village of Tkiais, which dates 
from Charlemagne, and Orly, where, in 1360, 300 men en- 
dured a siege of three months from the English, who bru- 
tally massacred them when hunger forced them to capit- 
ulate. 

15 k. Ablon. — A place entirely protestant in the XVI. c. 
Sully had a villa there, of which there are some remains 
facing the quay. 

1"] k. Athis-Mons. — The church of Athis has a XIII. c. 
tower. 

20 /^. Juvisy-sur-Orge. — It was here, in the post-house 
of the Cour de France, that (March 30, 18 14) Napoleon I., 
on his way to Paris, received the despatch which an- 
nounced the capitulation of the capital, and returned to 
Fontainebleau. Near Juvisy is the picturesque double 
bridge of Belles Fontaines. 

2 2/^. Savig7iy-sur-0?'ge. — Close to the station is the 
very handsome XV. c. chateau where Charles VII. is said 
to have kept Agnes Sorel in a tower, which he could only 
reach by a ladder. In recent times the chateau has been 
inhabited by the Princesse d'Eckmiihl, widow of Mare- 
chal Davoust. It now belongs to the Marquis d'Alta- 
Villa. 

2^k. Epinay-sur-Orge. — To the left of the railway v/e 
now pass the Forest of St. Genevieve, or Sequigny. Here 
Louis XIV. was hunting with his Court, when the wind 
blew away the hat of one of the ladies in waiting of Ma- 
dame, and attracted his attention to Marie de Fontange — 



FORET DE SEQUIGNY 



289 



"belle Gomme un ange, mais sotte comme un paiiier," 
who soon shared the title of mistress with Mme de Mon- 
tespan. 

" Mile de Fontange pleased the king enough to be his mistress 
en titre. Strange as this double arrangement was, it was not new. 
We had seen Mile de la Valliere and Mme de Montespan, whom 
the former only paid in the coin she had paid to another. But 
Mile de Fontange was not so fortunate either in vice, or fortune, 
or repentance. Her beauty sustained her for a time, but her in- 




CHATEAU OF SAVIGNY-SUR-ORGE. 

tellect was good for nothing. Intelligence was required to amuse 
and hold the king. If she had had that he would not have had the 
leisure to be utterly disgusted with her. A quick death, which 
caused no surprise, put an end speedily to this new love."— 6"/. 
Simon. 

The Chateau St. Genevieve, inhabited by Louis XIII. 
and Louis XIV., was pulled down by Berthier de Savigny, 
Intendant de Paris, but he only began to build a new one. 

To the right of the railway on the other side of the 



2go ^^ ^-S NEAR PARIS 

Orge is Longport^ where a very curious church is the ouly 
remnant of an abbey founded by Guy de Montlhdry and his 
wife Hodierne, in 1061, on the site of a pilgrimage chapel 
where an image of the Virgin had been found in a hollow 
oak. The abbey perished in the Revolution. The church 
portal, with its mutilated statues, is of great beauty. 

2<^k. St. Michel, — Half an hour's walk beyond the brook 
of the Orge (right) is Montlhery (diligence, 30 c), which 
possessed a famous castle, constantly besieged by early 
kings of France till Hugues de Crecy strangled the owner, 
Milon de Bray, who was his cousin, and threw the body 
from an upper window, and afterwards, being challenged to 
clear himself of the accusation by single combat, confessed 
the crime, retired to a monastery, and abandoned Montlhery 
to the king, Louis le Gros. 

St. Louis and his mother afterwards took refuge here 
during the troubles of his early reign. In 1360 Montlhery 
was occupied by the king of England, afterwards by the 
Armagnacs, and, in the reign of Louis XL, it gave a name 
to a battle between the royal troops and those of the rebel 
nobles who formed the ligue du Men public. The latter were 
so far successful that the king was obliged to accord all 
their demands, and made a treaty " par lequel," says Co- 
mines, " les princes butinerent le monarque et le mirent 
au pillage j chacun emporta sa piece." 

" The battle which took the name of Montlhery, because it 
took place in a plain near that town, offered the singular spectacle 
of two armies in flight at the same moment. On both sides the 
leaders abandoned the field of battle ; Louis XL, overcome by- 
fatigue, was carried to the chateau of Montlh6ri, while the Count 
de Charolais, hurrying after the fugitives to rally them, increased 
the terror of the Burgundians by making them believe, by his ab- 
sence, that he had fallen into the hands of the enemy. The 
French, not seeing their king, had the same idea ; others, the 



MARCOUSSIS 291 

majority indeed, believed the king dead, while, breathless and 
worn out, he was lying on a couch in the old donjon of Montlhery, 
whose indestructible tower still defies the ages." — Lafosse, " Hist, 
de Paris." 

The plain which was the scene of this bloody battle 
long bore the name of La Cimetiere des Bourguignons. 
Ruined in the wars of religion, the castle of Montlhery 
was afterwards used as a quarry, and the dungeon tower, 
with fragments of four smaller towers and broken walls, 
now alone exists. Boileau describes Night going to search 
for an owl in the Tour de Montlhery. 

" Ses murs, dont le sommet se d^robe a la vue, 
Sur le cime d'un roc s'allongent dans la nue. 
Et, presentant de loin leur objet ennuyeux, 
Du passant qui le fuit semblent suivre les yeux. 
Mille oiseaux efFrayants, mille corbeaux fun^bres, 
De ces murs desertes habitent les tenebres. 
La, depuis trente hivers, un hibou retire 
Trouvait contre le jour un refuge assure. 
Des desastres fameux ce messager fidele 
Sait toujours des malheurs la premiere nouvelle, 
Et, tout pret d'en semer le presage odieux, 
II attendait la nuit dans ces sauvages lieux." — Boileau. 

One of the old tower gates remains, the Porte Baudry, 
built, as an inscription tells, by Thibault File-Etaupe, in 
1 01 5, rebuilt by Henri III. in 1587, restored under 
Napoleon I. Through the Porte Baudry we reach the 
suburb of Linas, where a great part of the church is 

XIII. c. 

A little west of Montlhery is Marcoussis, which has 
some small remains of the fortress built at the end of the 

XIV. c. by Jean de Montaigu, Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer under Charles VI., beheaded at the Halles in 
1409. His body was brought from the gibbet of Mont- 
faucon to be buried here in the Celestine convent which 



2Q2 I^A YS NEAR PARIS 

he had founded.^ In the time of Henri III. the chateau 
belonged to Frangois de Balzac d'Entragues, the husband 
of Marie Touchet, mistress of Charles IX., and it was 
afterwards the residence of his daughter, Henriette d'En- 
tragues, at one time beloved by Henri IV. The chieftains 
of the Fronde were imprisoned in the fortress, which was 
pulled down in 1805. The church, of 1388, has some 
good stained glass. 




PORTE BAUDRY, MONTLH^RY. 

The line continues by — 

2^2 k. Brefigny, whQXQ the line to Tours by Vendome 
branches off to the right. 

^ His epitaph contained the words : " Lequel, en haine des bons et loyaux 
services par lui faits au roi et au royaume, fut, par les rebelles ennemis du roi, 
injustement mis i mort a Paris." Behind his head were the lines : — 

" Non vetuit servata fides regi patriaeque 
Ne tandem injuste traderet ipse neci ; " 



and above it- 



" Pour ce qu'en paix tenois le sang de France, 
Et soulageois le peuple de grevance, 
Je souflfris mort centre droit et justice 
Et sans raison ; Dieu si m'en soit propice." 

§ee Dulaure^ " Environs de Paris,'''' 



ETRECHY 593 

On the line to Vendome, easily attainable in a day's 
excursion from Paris, are — 

45 k. Breuillet. — 4/^. south is the magnificent Church of 
St. Sulpice-de-Favieres , founded to receive the relics of St. 
Sulpice le Debonnaire, Archbishop of Bourges, and al- 
moner of Clotaire II., who died in 644. It is a splendid 
specimen of late XIII. c. gothic, with a very lofty choir, 
sculptured stall-work, and XV. c. glass. La Butk-St.-Yon 
is said to have been a Roman camp. 

47 k. St. Cheron. — The neighboring Chateau de Bla- 
ville^ begun by the President Guillaume de Lamoignon in 
1658, is a very stately building of the time of Louis XIII. 
Boileau, Racine, and Bourdaloue were frequently here as 
the guests of Guillaume and Francois de Lamoignon, and 
Mme de Sevigne describes the charms of its society in her 
letters. 

56^. Dour dan (Hotel de la Foste), a picturesque old 
town, with an interesting ruined Castle, built by Philippe 
Auguste. The XIII. c. Church of St. Germaifi is very pict- 
uresque in outline, and contains a stone pulpit, good 
wood-carving, and the grave of the poet Regnard, 1709. 
The Halle is XIII. c. At Grillon, west of the town, was 
the residence of Regnard. 

43 k. Lardy. — The Chateau de Mesnil Voisin, belong- 
ing to the Marquise de Polignac, is a fine building of the 
time of Louis XIII. 

^6k. Chamarande. — The chateau, built by Mansart, 
with a park by Lenotre, was inhabited, under Napoleon 
HI., by the Due de Persigny. 

49 >^. Etrechy, which has a remarkably simple early- 
pointed cruciform church, with a central tower. The sculpt- 
ure of the foliage in the pier-capitals is extremely bold. 

56/^. Etampes (Hotel du Gra?id Courrier ; du Graiid 



294 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



Monarque ; du Cheval Blanc), a most picturesque and in- 
teresting place. The charming public walks and avenues 
are bordered by remains of the city walls. The long, 
white, ill-paved town straggles through the hollow, full of 
curious buildings, possessing four churches of the greatest 
value to the architectural student, and watered by the little 
river Juine, which Coulon ("L'Ulysse Frangais," 1643) ^^' 
scribes as "pavee d'une si grande quantite d'^crevisses 
que plus on en pesche, plus il en vient." 




ST. BASILS, 6TAMPES. 

Nearest the station is the Church of St. Basile, a gothic 
building with renaissance details. The west front is ro- 
manesque, with a grand portal. The church was partially 
rebuilt under Louis XII., but only the nave, with very wide 
aisles, and part of the choir were finished, owing to want 
of funds ; and the architects have left on the east wall the 
inscription — Faxit Dens perficiar. The tower is of the end 
of the XII. c. 

Close by, a Caisse d'Epargne occupies the house which 



ETAMPES 



29s 



bears the name of Diane de Poitiers. The fagade towards 
the oourt is of extreme richness and beauty. One of the 
doors has a medallion of Frangois I. 

Very near this, at the angle of the Rue de Paris and 
Rue St. Croix, is the house of Anne de Pisseleu, Duchesse 
d'Etampes (1538), of the best period of the XVI. c. The 
neighboring house, of the time of Louis XII., is made 
into a Hotel de Ville. 

Above the market-place rises the beautiful Church of 
Notre Dame du Fort, founded by Robert le Pieux, ex- 
ceedingly picturesque, with its battlemented facade, its 
buttresses overgrown with wallflowers {boutons d^or). The 
wide gothic portal is under the romanesque tower, which 
is in the centre of the west front, with a steeple of great 
beauty, ribbed and ornamented with scales. 

" The manner in which the upper octagonal stage of the tower 
harmonizes with the spire lights, and is connected by the pin- 
nacles both with the square base below and the spire above, is 
worth attention."— y. L. Petit. 

Near the Juine is an old hotel, inscribed Hostel Saint- 
Yon^ with octagonal tourelles, and richly sculptured win- 
dows. 

The fine parish church of St. Gilles is chiefly XVI. c, 
but has a very simple romanesque west portal of the XII. c. 
The restored interior has many good incised monuments. 

"The object of the architect has been to adapt, at the inter- 
section of the transepts, a square tower, narrower than either the 
nave, chancel, or transepts. The base is square, visible above 
the roof of the nave, but absorbed by the transepts and chancel. 
From the angles rise trangular slopes, as for the support of an 
octagon ; on these, as well as on the space left on each of the 
faces of the tower, stand equal gables : four cardinal, and four 
diagonal. The points of the diagonal ones support the angles of 
a smaller square tower, the faces of which fall behind the gables 
resting on the sides of the base," — Petit, 



296 



DAYS NEAR PARIS 



St. Martin (4 k. from the station) has a leaning west 
tower, standing detached in front of the church, and only 
connected with it by a porch. The upper part of the west 
front is free. The church is early-pointed or transitional, 
having a nave with aisles, small transepts not extending 
beyond the aisles, and a semicircular apse, from which 
three radiating chapels project. 




ST. GILLES, fXAMPES. 

The hill behind the station was occupied by the XII. c. 
Chateau des Quatre Tours, of which the most important 
remnant is the curious keep, or Tour Guinette. This is of 
very peculiar form, seeming to be composed by the union 
of four circular towers. The entrance, on the first floor, 
was reached by a drawbridge. The apartment of the lord 
on the second floor was beautifully vaulted in stone ; the 



CHATEAU DE MEREVILLE 297 

capitals of the columns still exist. ^ Amongst the other 
remains of the castle are those of a little chapel of St. 
Laurent. 

The next station beyond Etampes is — 

70 /^. Monnerville^ 6 k. from which, on the Juine, is the 
interesting Chateau de Mireville, of XV. c. to XVI. c, 
splendidly decorated by the painter Jean Joseph de la 
Borde, under Louis XVI. , at an expense of fourteen mil- 
lion francs. It contains a vast amount of interesting old 
furniture in its apartments lighted by 365 windows. 

* See Victor Petit, Bulletin Monumental. 



XVI. 

SCEAUX, CHEVREUSE, AND LI M OURS. 

THE Chemin de Fer de Sceaux et d'Orsay starts from 
Paris near the Barriere d'Enfer. A pleasant little 
afternoon excursion may be made without any fatigue to 
Robinson and Sceaux. They will be found a refreshment 
after some of the Paris sights in this direction — the Gobe- 
lins, Val de Grace, &c. The line passes through a bare 
country. The great asylum of Bicetre is seen on the left, 
then the graceful aqueduct crossing a valley, before 
reaching — 

6 k. Arcueil, celebrated for its aqueduct, built by 
Jacques Debrosses for Marie de Medicis to bring water to 
Paris, but chiefly to feed the fountains of the Luxembourg, 
on the site of an aqueduct which existed in Roman times, 
which gave a name (Arculi) to the village, and which 
served the Palais des Thermes. The church dates from 
the XIII. c, but was altered in the XV. c. In the vil- 
lage. No. 24 Grande Rue, a picturesque building of stone 
and brick, was the house of the infenda?tt of the Due de 
Guise, who possessed a splendid chateau, destroyed in 
1753, on the neighboring hill. A bust, on the Place des 
Ecoles, commemorates the residence at Arcueil of Laplace, 
author of the Mkcaniqice celeste. 



BOURG-LA-RETNE 299 

Charles Louis, Comte de Berthollet, celebrated for his 

scientific and archaeological studies, died at Arcueil, 

Nov. 9, 1748. 

"In his country seat at Arcueil, he could divide his time 
between study and his simple tastes. All his luxury consisted 
in his laboratory, his library, and a hot-house which served him 
for a saloon, where he was delighted to receive his friends. 
Learned strangers met with the most cordial welcome. There 
came to this philosophic retreat, even during the war, physicists 
and chemists of the greatest celebrity, the rivals of Berthollet in 
discoveries and in services to science." — Hoeffer, 

8 k, JBourg-la-jReine, where Edward III. of England en- 
camped against Paris in 1359. Here Louis XV., a twelve- 
year-old king, had his first interview with the still younger 
Infanta of Spain, who was intended for his bride, but was 
unceremoniously sent back to Spain three years after. 
The house in the Grande Rue, where the first interview of 
Louis XV. and the Infanta took place, is believed to have 
been built by Henry IV. for Gabrielle d'Estrees. At the 
end of the Grande Rue is the old gate leading to the 
Chateau de Sceaux. On the little square a bust com- 
memorates Condorcet (i 743-1 793), author of Progrh de 
Vesprit humain, who poisoned himself in the prisons of 
Bourg-Egalite when arrested during the Revolution. The 
house called BAumbnerie was the scene of the horrible 
cruelties of the Marquis de Sade in the XVIII. c. 

9 k. Fontenay-atcx-Roses (to the right of the railway) was 
the residence of Scarron. It is a pretty knot of villas, 
buried in shrubs and gardens. Fontenay is most easily 
reached by the omnibus which starts every fifteen minutes 
from 45 Rue Crenelle St. Honore (50 c), passing through 
Chatillon-sous-Bagneaux. 

It is a pleasant walk of 2 k. from the station of Fontenay 
(open omnibus, 50 c.) to Robinson^ a very singular and rather 



3O0 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



pretty village on the edge of a slight hill. It consists of a 
street of cafes and restaurants, the most important of which 
has its little dining-parlors under, around, and high in the 
branches of some curious old chestnut trees. The place is 
exceedingly popular with Parisians of the middle classes, 
and crowded in fine summer evenings. Quantities of 







ROBINSON. 



donkeys and horses are waiting to convey visitors to the 
neighboring village of Aulnay, which stands at the entrance 
of the Vallee aux Loups^ containing the grotesque house of 
Chateaubriand, about which he says : " Je precedais la 
mairie du moyen age qui vous hebete k present. " Pleasant 
rides may be taken from Robinson through the Bois de 
Verribres. 



SCEA UX 301 

The railway winds oddly and pleasantly amongst gar- 
dens to — 

12 ^. Sceaux (which may also be reached by an omni- 
bus starting every hour from the Passage Dauphine, 50 c, 
and passing through Bagneux^ where the church of St. 
Herbland has a fine XIII. c. portal). Sceaux first became 
celebrated in the XIII. c. from the relics of St. Mammes, 
martyred in Cappadocia, brought from Palestine by Adam 
de Colis, and preserved in the church, where they were be- 
lieved to cure from colic those who approached them. 
Colbert built a magnificent chateau at Sceaux, employing 
Perrault in his buildings, Lebrun for their decoration, 
and Lenotre in laying out the garden. Sceaux was pur- 
chased in 1690 from the heirs of the Marquis de Seignelay 
for the Due du Maine, son of Louis XIV. and Mme de 
Montespan, the idolized pupil of Mme de Maintenon, who 
had first become known to the king as his son's governess, 
and who had printed, in 1677, a book of historical extracts 
made by him under the title of CEuvres diverses d^un 
enfant de sept ans. 

"Sceaux was the theatre of the follies of the Duchesse de 
Maine, and of the shame, embarrassment, and ruin of her hus- 
band, by the immensity of her expenditures and the theatrical 
performances given to the court and the town that flocked there 
and mocked them. She herself played 'Athalie,' with the 
comedians of both sexes, and other pieces, several times in the 
week. Sleepless nights were passed at hazard or cards, in fetes, 
illuminations, fire-works; in a word, fetes and fancies of all kinds 
and every day. She swam in the joy of her new grandeur and re- 
doubled her follies." — St. Simon, '' Memoires,''' 1714. 

It was here that Louis XIV. took leave of his grand- 
son, the Due d'Anjou, on his leaving France to assume 
the crown of Spain. 

" Saturday, December 4, the King of Spain visited the king 
before any one else was admitted, and remained there a long time 



302 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



alone, and then went down to Monseigneur, with whom also he 
remained a long time alone. They all heard mass together ; the 
crowd of courtiers was incredible. On coming out from mass 
they immediately entered their carriage, the Duchesse de Bour- 
gogne between the two kings on the back seat, Monseigneur on 
the front one between his other two sons, Monsieur at one door 
and Madame at the other, surrounded with many more guards 
than usual, gendarmes and light cavalry ; the whole road to 
Sceaux was strewn with carriages and people, and Sceaux, where 
they arrived soon after noon, was full of ladies and courtiers, and 
guarded by two companies of musketeers. When they left the 
carriage, the king crossed the lower apartment and entered the 
last room alone with the King of Spain, leaving everybody in the 
saloon. A quarter of an hour afterwards he summoned Mon- 
seigneur, who had also remained in the saloon, and some time 
afterwards the ambassador of Spain, who took leave of the king 
his master. A moment afterwards he summoned Monseigneur 
and the Duchesse de Bourgogne, M. the Duke de Berry, Mon- 
sieur and Madame, and after a short interval the princes of the 
blood. The door was opened wide, and from the saloon they 
were all seen weeping bitterly. The king said to the King of 
Spain, on presenting the princes to him : * Here are the princes of 
my blood and yours ; the two nations, at present, ought no longer 
to regard themselves except as one nation ; they ought to have 
the same interests, as I wish that these princes should be as at- 
tached to you as to me ; you will never have friends more faithful 
nor more assured.' All this lasted an hour and a half. At last 
they had to part. The king escorted the King of Spain to the end 
of the apartments and embraced him repeatedly, holding him for 
a long time in his arms, and Monseigneur likewise. The spec- 
tacle was extremely touching." — St. Simon, ''Mimoires.^' 

The Court of Louis XIV. frequently halted at Sceaux 
on their way to and from Fontainebleau. We find the 
Duchesse d'OrMans writing : — 

" 28th October, 1704. Last Thursday we left Fontainebleau 
at eleven, and at a quarter to five we were at Sceaux. I went to 
the kitchen garden. I wanted to see it, as poor M. de Navailles, 
my son's late tutor, had praised it highly. In the time of M. Col- 
bert, he came expressly to see Sceaux. The beautiful cascade 
was shown him, the water gallery, which is wonderful, the avenue 



SCEA UX 303 

of chestnuts, the arbors, in fact all that was beautiful to see. He 
did not praise anything till he came to the kitchen garden where 
the salad was, then he cried, ' In very truth, here is fine chicory ! ' 
I went then, like him, to see the fine chicory." — Correspondance de 
Madame. 

But Sceaux is chiefly connected with the follies and 
extravagances of the Duchesse du Maine, Anne Louise 
Benedicite de Bourbon-Conde, granddaughter of the Grand 
Conde, and the sufferings of her fickle-minded husband. 

" Mme du Maine had long since shaken off the yoke of com- 
plaisance, attention, and all that she called constraint. She 
did not heed either the king or M. the Prince, who would not 
have been well received if he had crossed her, seeing that the 
king, who took the part of M. du Maine, could do nothing. On 
the slightest provocation, he endured all the arrogance of an 
unequal marriage, often for nothing, tempers and outcries, that 
made him fear for her head. He adopted the plan then of letting 
her go on and ruin him by her fetes, fireworks, balls, and comedies, 
which she acted herself in public, dressed as an actress." — St. 
Simon, 1705. 

"Mme du Maine took, more and more, to acting plays with 
her domestics, and some retired actors. All the court went to 
them, and could not comprehend the folly of the trouble of dress- 
ing like an actress, learning and declaiming the grandest parts, and 
appearing to a public audience in a theatre. M. du Maine, who 
dared not contradict her for fear lest her brain give way, was by 
the side of a door, and did the honors. Except for absurdity, 
these amusements were not cheap." — St. Simon, 1707. 

" M. du Maine . . . had wit, I will not say like an angel, 
but like a devil, whom he resembled so strongly in malignity, 
blackness, perversity of soul, disservice to all, service to none, 
in dark ways, in the haughtiest pride, in exquisite falsity, in 
countless artifices, in measureless dissimulations, and still, in 
agreeability, the art of amusing, diverting, and charming when he 
wished to please. He was a poltroon, accomplished in mind and 
heart, and, therefore, all the more dangerous a poltroon. 

" He was urged on by a woman of the same stamp, whose 
intellect — and she had an infinity of it — was spoiled and corrupted 
by reading romances and plays, a passion to which she abandoned 
herself to such a degree that she passed years in learning them by 



304 ^A yS NEAR PARIS 

heart, and publicly performing them herself. She had courage to 
excess, was enterprising, daring, furious, knowing only her 
present passion, to which she made everything defer, indignant 
at the prudence and discretion of her husband, which she called 
miserable weakness, and whom she reproached with the honor 
she had done him by marrying him, and rendered mean and sub- 
missive before her by treating him like a negro, and ruining him, 
from top to bottom, without his daring to say a word. He bore 
all from her in the fear he had of her, and the terror that her head 
would be quite turned. Although he concealed many things from 
her, the ascendancy she had over him was incredible, and she 
drove him forward with a stick." — St. Simon. 

Nothing could exceed the magnificence as well as the 
extravagance of " les grandes nuits de Sceaux." 

"The beginning of them, as of all things, was VQxy simple. 
Madame the Duchess of Maine, who loved to remain up, often 
passed the whole night in different kinds of games. The Abbe 
de Vaubrun, one of her courtiers most anxious to please her, pro- 
posed, that during one of the nights destined for this purpose, 
some one should appear under the form of Night clad in crape, 
and thank the princess for the preference she accorded to night 
over day, and that the goddess should have a follower to sing a 
pretty air on the same subject. . . . The idea was applauded ; 
and this gave rise to the magnificent fetes given at night by dif- 
ferent persons to the Duchess of Maine." — Mile Delaunay. 

It was at Sceaux that, under the Regenc}^, the Due du 
Maine was arrested for treason, as he was coming out of 
the chapel, and hurried off to a year's imprisonment at 
Dourlans, at the same time that his wife, arrested in Paris, 
was taken to Dijon. Upon the death of the duke (1736), 
after terrible sufferings from a cancer in the face, Mme du 
Maine ceased her political intrigues and devoted herself 
entirely to amusements and belles-lettres. Those were the 
brightest days of Sceaux, when Fontenelle, Lamotte, Chau- 
lieu, were its constant guests, and more especially Voltaire, 
who had a fixed apartment in the chateau. 

The Duchesse du Maine died in 1753. Her eldest 



SCEA UX 305 

son, the Prince de Dombes, was killed in a duel with the 
Marechal de Coigny two years after, but her second son, 
the Comte d'Eu, spent twenty years at Sceaux and greatly 
embellished it. After his death the place passed to his 
cousin, the Due de Penthievre (father-in-law of the Prin- 
cesse de Lamballe), whose gentleman-in-waiting was the 
poet Florian, who wrote part of his Pastorales at Sceaux, 
and died there. The Due de Penthievre gave Sceaux to 
his daughter, the Duchesse d'Orleans, from whom it was 
snatched by the Revolution, under which the chateau was 
demolished, and the park destroyed, except a very small 
portion. 

This fragment, dignified by the name of Fare de Sceaux^ 
is entered at once from the railway station. It is appro- 
priated as a tea-garden, but is always open to the public. 

"Sceaux possesses another no less powerful attraction for 
the Parisian. In the midst of a garden whence some beautiful 
views can be had, is an immense rotunda, open on all sides, the 
dome, as light as spacious, being supported by elegant pillars. 
This rustic canopy covers a dancing room." — De Balzac^ '' Le bal 
de Sceazix" 

The garden is very quaint in its avenues, arcades, and 
circles of clipped limes. Here, where all other memorials 
of the favorite son of Louis XIV. are destroyed, one may 
still see the tomb of a cat of the Duchesse du Maine, in- 
scribed — " Ci-git Mar-la-main, le roi des animaux." 

Close also to the station is the Churchy with a good 
flamboyant tower. The monogram of Colbert, by whom 
it was rebuilt, is to be seen on the vaulting of the choir. 
Over the high-altar is a group by Puget, representing the 
Baptism of Christ, which comes from the chapel of the 
Due du Maine. Against a pillar on the left are propped 
up the broken fragments of a black-marble monument in- 



3o6 £>AVS NEAR PARIS 

scribed to " le tres-haute et tres-puissant Louis- Auguste de 
Bourbon, Due du Maine, Prince legitime de France, 1736, 
et la tres-haute, tres-puissante Princesse Louise Bene- 
dicite de Bourbon, Princesse du Sang, avec le Comte d'Eu 
leur fils. ..." In the churchyard a bust commemorates 
Florian, who is buried there, having been brought up in 
the house of the Due de Penthievre, nephew of the Due 
du Maine. 

It is 5 k. from Sceaux to Verrieres by Chdtenay, where 
Voltaire (Frangois Marie Arouet) was born, February 20, 
1694. 

The Chemin de Fer d'Orsay branches off from that of 
Sceaux at Bourg-la-Reine and then passes — 

11/^. Antony, a. village which belonged to the abbey of 
St. Germain des Pres at Paris from the IX. c. 

14/^. Massy. — The church has a XIII. c. portal and 
heavy tower. There is an omnibus from this station to 
Ferrieres. At the Chateau de Villegenis (right) Prince 
Jerome Napoleon, ex-king of Westphalia, died June 24, 
i860. 

17 -^. Palaiseau has a handsome church, partly XII. c. 
and XIII. c. Against the inner wall of the fagade is 
placed the tombstone of the family of Arnauld of Port- 
Royal, who were exhumed from the destroyed abbey in 
the night of September 13, 17 10, and reburied fifteen 
years after, September 30, 1725. The church tower is 
connected with the favorite story of La Pie Voleuse, for 
there it is said that a magpie was discovered to have hid- 
den the plate, for the theft of which an innocent young 
girl — Ninette — was condemned, and was just about to be 
executed. A pleasant drive or walk of i^k. leads hence 
to Versailles by {^^k.) Igny, where M. Tourneaux has 



ABBA YE A UX BOIS 307 

built (1852), a fine chateau in the style of the renaissance ; 
and Bievre, amongst whose seigneurs was the Marquis de 
Bievre (1747-83) who collected the Bievriana. In a neigh- 
boring valley some farm buildings are all that remain of 
the Benedictine Abbaye du Valprofond or Abbaye aux Bois, 
which afterwards received the name of Val de Grace from 
Anne de Bretagne. In 1621 its nuns were removed to the 
Faubourg St. Jacques at Paris. A path turning aside 
from the hill which is ascended by the road to Versailles 
leads to the artificial caves known as Grottes de Bievre. 
It is of the valley of Bievre that Victor Hugo wrote, in his 
Feuilles d'automne — 

" Une riviere au fond, des bois sur les deux pentes ; 
La des ormeaux, brod6s de cent vignes grimpantes, 
Des pres, ou le faucheur brunit son bras nerveux ; 
La des saules pensifs, qui pleurent sur la rive, 
Et, comme une baigneuse indolente et naive, 
Laissent tremper dans I'eau le bout de leurs cheveux ; 
La bas, un gu6 bruyant dans les eaux poissonneuses. 
Qui montrent aux passants les jambes des faneuses, 
Des Carres de ble d'or ; des etangs en flot clair ; 
Dans Tombre, un mur de craie et des toits noirs de suie ; 
Les ocres des ravins, dechires par la pluie ; 
Et I'aqueduc au loin, qui semble un pont de I'air." 

In the church of Chilly^ a little east, are monuments 
of the family of Effiat. The tomb of Martin Ruze bears 
his kneeling figure wearing the order of the St. Esprit. 

23 k. Orsay, famous for the robber chieftains who 
occupied its castle in the reign of Charles VI. and VII. 
The existing chateau is surrounded by a moat, supplied by 
the Yvette. One of the seigneurs of the neighboring 
Bures, distinguished in the crusades, was made Viceroy of 
Jerusalem during the captivity of Baldwin II. 

26 /^. Gif. — Some small remains exist of the Bene- 
dictine abbey of Notre-Dame dtc Val de Gif, founded in 



3o8 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



the XII. c, enclosed in the garden of Mme Edmond 
Adam (Juliette Lamber), the authoress. A crypt is of the 
end of the XI. c. 

31 /^. St. Re7ny. — An ouxuibus (20 c.) meets all the 
trains for (2 k.) Chevreuse — Caprosia — (Hotel de V Espe- 
rance, 2l pleasant clean little country inn, a good centre for 
artists), a little town nestling under a steep hill crowned 
by the ruins of a large chateau — known in the country side 
as La Madeleine from its former chapel, ruined long before 




CHEVREUSE. 



the Revolution. The seigneury of Chevreuse was given 
by Frangois I. to the Duchesse d'Etampes ; but after the 
death of Francois I. her domains passed to Claude de 
Lorraine, Archbishop of Rheims. In 161 2 Chevreuse was 
made a duchy for Marie de Rohan-Montbazon, widow of 
the Connetable de Luynes, whose second husband was 
the younger son of Balafre, Due de Guise. From its don- 
jon tower, Racine, placed there by his uncle, the intendant 
of the house of Luynes, to overlook some workmen, meta- 



DAMPIERRE 309 

phorically dated his letter of Babylofte, January 2G, 1661. 
There are some XII. c. remains of zxi Abbey of St, Saturnm 
opposite the portal of the church. No. 14 Rue de Ver- 
sailles is the curious Maison des Bannieres. The ascent to 
the castle, with its steps in wood, presents many pictur- 
esque points of view. 

A carriage (10 fr.) may be taken from Chevreuse for 
the excursion to Dampierre and Vaux-le-Cernay, and, 
reaching Chevreuse in the middle of the day, there is 
plenty of time for this, and to return to Paris in the 
evening. 

In the midst of the trim village of (4^^.) Dampierre^ 
handsome wrought-iron gates open towards the chateau of 
the Due de Luynes, a vast red and yellow building with 
towers at the angles, and great " dependances." It was 
chiefly rebuilt by J. H. Mansart for the Cardinal de 
Lorraine. The chateau is backed by wooded hills and 
green avenues. The buildings were restored in 1840 by 
the well-known archaeologist and historian Honore, Due 
de Luynes. Ingres was permitted by the duke to destroy 
some fine works of Gleyre in the gallery, but the frescoes 
with which the great artist began to replace them were so 
indelicate that his work at Dampierre was speedily cut 
short. Amongst the treasures of the chateau is a silver 
statue by Rude of Louis XIII. as a child ; but the interior 
of the building is not usually shown. The late duke, 
famous for his love of art, died of his service in the papal 
ambulance after the battle of Mentana. 

The pretty scenery of the Yvette near Levy-St.-Nom 
and Mesnil-St. -Denis may be visited from hence, and one 
may return to Paris from the station of Verrieres. (See 
Ch. XVII.) 

Beyond Dampierre is good French home scenery — 



3 Id J^A YS NEAR PARI3 

woods alternating with open fields sprinkled with fruit 
trees. Beyond the pretty village of Seiilisse, which has an 
old church, and a moated XVI. c. manor-house, the car- 
riage should be left at Le Grand Moulin^ and regained at 
another old mill, and Le Repos des Artistes , five minutes 
further on. A path leads along the right bank of the 
Yvette, through a little wood painted by a thousand artists, 
full of great stones stained with crimson lichen, between 
which the Yvette tosses in little rapids (called here les cas- 
cades) to a limpid sheet of water in the more open ground. 
2 k. further, lok. from Chevreuse, is the village of 
Vaux-le-Cernay (Au Re7idez-voiis des Artistes — a good artist- 
inn), below which, reached through an old gateway close 
to a chateau, are the remains of the abbey of which Guy 
de Montfort, bishop of Carcassone, was abbot, and Pierre 
des Vallees-Cernay, historian of the Albigensian war, was 
a monk. To enter the grounds it is necessary to have 
written beforehand to the proprietor, the Baroness Nathaniel 
de Rothschild, 2>2i Faubourg St. Honore, but the ruined 
church with its noble rose-window, is well seen from the 
road. 

"The abbey of Vaux-le-Cernay was a purely agricultural 
establishment. Founded in 1128, the plan displays the simplicity 
of arrangement and the regularity of building of the edifices 
established by Citeaux ; always four open chapels, to the east in 
the transept, and as at Citeaux a square apse. The large building 
which prolongs the transept contained on the ground-floor the 
chapter-house, the sacristy, parlors, &c., and, above, the dormitory. 
Near the entrance, is a very large grange. The dove-house is at 
a distance from the cloister, in the vast outbuildings which 
surround the abbey." — Viollet-le-Duc. 

The abbey of Vaux-le-Cernay was an especially coveted 
possession. The poet Desportes possessed it, but without 
interfering with any spiritual government. Henri III. 



VA UX-LE-CERNA Y 



3" 



asked him why he had refused the archbishopric of Bor- 
deaux; he replied that he dreaded the charge of souls. 
"'Voire/ dit le roi, 'et vous etes abbe! N'avez-vous pas 
charge des ames de vos moines ? ' ' Non ' repondit Des- 
portes, 'car ils n'en ont point.'" Another abbot commen- 
datory was Henri de Bourbon de Verneuil, bastard of 
Henri IV., who, after a nominal rule of sixty years, threw 
it up to marry at the age of sixty-nine ; it was then given 



..-/^-^^ 




AT VAUX-LE-CERNAY. 



to King Casimir of Poland, who had abdicated to take 
orders. 

Pedestrians who wish to vary their return to Paris may 
join the line to Rambouillet at Les Essarts du Roi. 

40 k. Limours has a good XVI. c. church. The cha- 
teau, " des mignons et des mignonnes des rois de France," 
was destroyed at the Revolution. Anne de Pisseleu, Diane 
de Poitiers, and the Due de Joyeuse were amongst its 
owners. At 4 k. east, passing Forges-les-Bains^ is Briis, 
where a large square tower, with a round tourelle attached 



3i2 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



to it, is called the Tour d^Anne de Boleyn^ and is pointed 
out as the remnant of a convent where the unfortunate 
Queen of England lived in her youth. When she came 
over to France as maid of honor to Princess Mary on her 
marriage with Louis XII., she was left by her father to 
complete her education at Briis. It is supposed that a 
convent was chosen here for that purpose, because her an- 
cestor, Walter de Boleyn, was vassal-kinsman to the lord 
of Briis in 1344.^ 

* See Strickland's Queens of England, iv. 167. 



XVII. 

MEUDON, BELLEVUE, PORT ROYAL, RAM- 
BOUILLET. 

THE Gave Montparnasse is on the boulevard Mont- 
parnasse, on the left bank of the Seine, at a great 
distance from the hotels usually frequented by English 
visitors. The trains as far as Versailles run every half- 
hour from 6.35 till 9.5 A.M. ; after 10.5 at every hour. 
The places to the right of the carriages are best for the 

view. 

dk. Clamarf, after which the railway passes beneath 
the fort of Issy. On the left the villages of Val and Fleury 
are seen, then Meudon with its terrace. On the right 
there is a fine view over the valley of the Seine, with Paris, 
the Bois de Boulogne, Mont Valerien, St. Cloud, and 
Sevres. The gorge of Val-Fleury is crossed before reach- 
ing— 

Zk. Meudon. It is an ascent oi \\k. from the station, 
in a straight line, to the famous Terrace of Meudon, which 
is always open to the public, and which has incomparably 
the most beautiful and pictorial view in the neighborhood 
of Paris. To the left the great mass of the city is seen, 
backed by the heights of Montmartre and by fainter blue 
distances. The dome of the Invalides glitters to the right 
of the windings of the Seine with its bridges, and, further 



314 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

to the right, southern Paris extends into long lines of 
houses for miles, only broken by St. Sulpice, St. Germain, 
the Pantheon, and the Val de Grace ; further still to the 
right, the wooded hill in the foreground is surmounted by 
the Hospice de Fleury. In the deep hollow below is the 
pretty little town of Meudon, with its old houses, and rich 
masses of chestnut and acacia foliage around the XVI. c. 
church, interesting from its association with Frangois Ra- 
belais, son of a publican, who, born (1485) on a metairie 
near Chinon, died cure of Meudon, though he never re- 
sided or performed any ecclesiastical duty there. 

The Cardinal de Lorraine, who bought Meudon from 
the famous Duchesse d'Etampes, mistress of Francois I., 
built a chateau here from designs of Philibert Delorme. 
This chateau, says Corrozet, " was a house furnished forth 
with columns, busts, paintings, grotesques, compartments 
and devices of blue and gold, and more colors than it is 
possible to mention." The heirs of the cardinal sold his 
chateau to Servient, Surintendant de Finances from 1664 
to 1669, who made the fine terrace above the village. 
From his son, Meudon passed to Louvois, minister of 
Louis XIV., from whose widow it was bought by the king. 

"The king, accustomed to rule in his family, as much, at 
least, as over his courtiers and his people, and who always 
wanted to have them assembled beneath his eyes, did not view 
with pleasure the gift of Choisy to Monseigneur, and the frequent 
visits he made there with the small number of those whom he, 
individually, invited to accompany him. It made a division in 
the court which, at his son's age, could not be avoided after the 
gift of this house had produced it, but he wished, at least, to 
bring him nearer to him. Meudon, much larger, and made ex- 
tremely magnificent by the millions that M. de Louvois had sunk 
there, seemed to him fitting for this end. He proposed an ex- 
change to Barbesieux for his mother, who had taken it in her 
share at a value of 500,000 livres, and bade him to offer her 400,- 



MEtJbON 



315 



000 livres more and Choisy to boot. Mme de Louvois, for whom 
Meudon was too large and too difficult to fill, was ravished at re- 
ceiving 900,000 livres with a house more suited to her, and other- 
wise very agreeable, and on the same day that the king proposed 
the exchange, it was concluded. The king had not acted without 
having spoken to Monseigneur, to whom the slightest appearance 
of a wish was an order. Mme de Louvois afterwards passed her 
summers in good company at Choisy, and Monseigneur flitted 
more and more from Versailles to Meudon, where, in imitation 
of the king, he made many improvements in the house and gar- 
dens, and put a climax to the marvels which the Cardinals de 
Meudon and de Lorraine and MM. Servient and de Louvois had 
successively added." — St. Si?nojt, "yJ//;/?^zV^j," 1695. 

The son of Louis XIV. was never called Dauphin. 

" Monseigneur was Monseigneur all his life, and the name of 
Dauphin eclipsed. He is the first and only Monseigneur, quite 
short, that was ever known." — St. Simon. 

After he became the owner of Meudon, Monseigneur 
lived there whenever he could escape from the Court, and 
amused himself in the creation of gardens and buildings, 
as his father did at Versailles : he especially loved, by- 
taking refuge at Meudon, to avoid the tedious monotony 
of the Voyages de Marly. His morganatic wife, known 
by the name of Mile Chouin,^ resided at Meudon, united 
to him {c. 1695) in secret bonds of matrimony, as Mme 
de Maintenon was to Louis XIV., but occupied a very 
diiferent position, living in one of the attics of the house, 
and seen by none but Monseigneur. The king never 
came to Meudon (which, after all, he disliked as alien- 
ating his son from the Court) till he was summoned 
thither (17 n) by the news of Monseigneur's dangerous 
illness. Then he established himself there till his son's 
death (from small-pox), which was very sudden at the 
last. 

^ Marie Emilie Jolyde Chouin, ob. 1732. 



3i6 



i)A YS NEAR PARIS 



"April i6, 1711. — What a spectacle, madame, when I arrived 
at Monseigneur's grand cabinet. The king, seated on a couch, 
without shedding a tear, but shuddering and trembling from head 
to foot ; Mme the Duchess in despair, Mme the Princess de Conti 
torn with grief, all the courtiers silent, interrupted by sobs and 
cries that we heard, and made us in the chamber every moment 
believe that he was expiring." — Afj)ie de Maintenon h la Ffincesse 
des Ursins. 

"While the king was quieil)- supping, those in the chamber 
of Monseigneur began to lose their heads. Fagon and the others 
piled remedy on remedy without effect. The cure, who came 
every evening before going home to learn the news, found, con- 
trary to custom, all the doors open and the valets distracted. He 
entered the chamber, where, seeing what had only too lately been 
in question, he ran to the bed, took Monseigneur's hand, spoke 
to him of God, and, seeing him quite conscious, but unable to 
speak, drew from him what he could for a confession, of which 
nobody had thought, and suggested acts of contrition. The poor 
prince repeated some words distinctly, others confusedly, beat 
his breast, pressed the clergyman's hand, appeared penetrated 
with the best sentiments, and received absolution from him with 
a contrite and anxious air. 

"Meanwhile the king was rising from table, and almost fell 
backwards, when Fagon, coming in, cried out, in great trouble, 
that all was lost. Judge of the terror that seized every one at 
this so sudden transition from entire security to the most hope- 
less extremity. 

"The king, almost beside himself, at once started for Mon- 
seigneur's apartment and reprimanded severely the indiscreet 
zeal of some courtiers who tried to restrain him, saying he wished 
to see his son again, and asking if there were no further remedies. 
When he was about to enter the room, the Princess de Conti, 
who had had time to run to Monseigneur's chamber in the brief 
interval after supper, presented herself to prevent his entrance. 
She pushed him back with her hands, and told him that now he 
must think of himself. Then the king, almost overcome by a 
change so sudden and so complete, let himself be led to a sofa 
near the entrance door of the cabinet by which he had entered, 
and which opened on the chamber. He asked every one who 
came out for news, without any one daring to reply. While he 
had been coming down to Monseigneur's rooms, for he was 
lodged above him, he had sent for Father Tellier, who had just 



MEUDON 



Z^l 



gone to bed, but rose, was quickly dressed, and came to the 
chamber ; but it was too late, as all the domestics have said 
since, although the Jesuit, perhaps to console the king, assured 
him that he had given him well-founded absolution. Mme de 
Maintenon hastened to the king, and, sitting on the same sofa, 
strove to weep. She tried to take the king away, as the carriages 
were already waiting in the court, but it was impossible to make 
him take this resolution till Monseigneur had expired. 

"His agony — he was unconscious — lasted nearly an hour 
after the king entered the cabinet. Mme the Duchess and 
Mme the Princess de Conti were divided between their care 
for the dying man, and their care for the king, to whom they often 
came, while the faculty perplexed, the servants distracted, the 
courtiers whispering, were pushing each other about, and walk- 
ing incessantly, almost without changing their places. At last 
the fatal moment came. Fagon came out to announce it. 

"The king, in deep affliction, was led away by Mme de Main- 
tenon and the two princesses. He entered his carriage with dif- 
ficult}^, supported on each side, Mme de Maintenon immediately 
afterwards, who placed herself beside him. Mme the Duchess 
and Mme the Princess de Conti entered after her, and sat on the 
front seat. A crowd of Monseigneur's officers flung themselves 
on their knees the whole length of the court, on each side, as the 
king passed, begging him with strange outcries to have pity on 
them, who had lost everything and were dying of hunger." — 
St. Simon, ^' Memoir es" 1 71 1. 

In the reign of Louis XV., tlie Duchesse de Berry ex- 
changed Amboise for Meudon, which was reunited to the 
crown in 1726. In 1736, Stanislaus, king of Poland, was 
lodged here. In 1789, the first Dauphin, son of Louis 
XVI., died here. During the Revolution the older cha- 
teau was transformed into a fortress, and Napoleon I. 
pulled it down, using some of its marbles in building the 
arch of the Place du Carrousel. A second chateau, which 
had been built by the second Dauphin, was repaired and 
intended to be used as a college for kings ! Marie Louise 
and the King of Rome lived there during the Russian cam- 
paign. Afterwards (1833) Pedro, king of Portugal, his 



3i8 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

daughter, Dona Maria, the Due d'Orleans, and Marshal 
Soult, inhabited it in turn. Under the second empire it 
was the residence of Jerome Napoleon, once king of West- 
phalia. It was destroyed during the German war of 1870, 
and the terraces are now the only memorials of the two 
chateaux. Only the lower terrace is open to the public : 
at the end is an observatory. 

At Meudon, during the Reign of Terror, there was a 
tannery of human skins, " such of the guillotined as seemed 
worth flaying, of which perfectly good wash-leather was 
made." ^ The skin of the men was superior in toughness 
[consista?ice) and quality to chamois, that of the women was 
good for almost nothing, being so soft in texture.^ 

Le Bois de Meudon is a favorite resort of Parisian 
pedestrians. Mme Roland used to be brought thither in 
her childhood. 

"On Sunday, at five in the morning, every one was up. A 
light dress, fresh and simple, some flowers, a gauze veil, pro- 
claimed the day's projects. The odes of Rousseau, a volume of 
Corneille, or some one, formed all my baggage. The three of us 
[herself, father, and mother] set out. We were to embark at the 
Pont Royal, which I saw from m}"^ windows, in a little boat which, 
in the silence of a rapid and gentle sail, brought us to the banks 
of Bellevue, not far from the glass-works. Thence, by steep 
paths, we reached the Avenue de Meudon. . . . Dinner took 
place in one of the Swiss cottages in the park. . . . Dear Meu- 
don ! How often have I breathed under your shades, blessing 
the author of my existence, and longing for what might one day 
complete it, but with that charm of a desire without impatience, 
which only colors the clouds of the future with the rays of hope ! 
How often have I loved to repose under these tall trees, not far 
from the clearings, where I saw the timid and nimble fawn pass- 
ing ! I remember the more sombre spots, where we passed the 
heats of noon ; then, while my father lying on the grass, and my 
mother reclining on a heap of leaves I had prepared, surrendered 

1 Montgaillard, iv. 290. 

^ See Carlyle's French Revolution^ iii. 7. 



BELLE VUE ^ig 

themselves to an after-dinner sleep, I contemplated the majesty 
of thy silent woods, I admired nature, I adored the Providence 
whose benefactions I felt." — ''Mdmoires.^* 

" Pourquoi pas montes sur des anes? 
Pourquoi pas au bois de Meudon? 
Les severes sont les profanes ; 
Ici tout est joie et pardon. 

Rien n'est tel que cette ombre verte, 
Et que ce calme un peu moqueur, 
Pour aller a la decouverte 
Tout au fond de son propre coeur. 

Tout chante ; et pas de fausses notes. 
L'hymne est tendre ; et I'esprit de corps 
Des fauvettes et des linottes 
Eclate en ces profonds accords." — Victor Hugo. 

Louis XVI. was hunting at Meudon on October 6, 1789, 
the very day of the attack of the people of Paris upon 
Versailles, and Marie Antoniette had to send messengers 
to hasten his return, so that he might reach the palace 
before the expected arrival of the furies of the Halles.^ 

A charming walk of i k. leads from the end of the ter- 
race at Meudon, down a lime avenue to Bellevue (a 
restaurant on the way, good but dear). 

gk. Bellevue (Hotel de la T He Noire). — Here Mme de 
Pompadour, admiring the view from the hill above the left 
bank of the Seine, built a chateau (1748-50), which Louis 
XV. frequently used as a residence, and which he purchased 
in 1757. After the death of Louis XV. the chateau became 
the private residence of his daughters — Mesdames, Tantes 
du Roi — till their flight before the coming Revolution in 
1791. 

" Mesdames, the king's aunts, left Bellevue at the beginning 
of the year 1791. I went to take leave of Madame Victoire. I 

1 Metnoires de Weber, 



320 



DAYS NEAR PARIS 



did not think that I saw for the last time of my life that august 
and venerable protectress of my early )^outh. She received me, 
alone in her cabinet, and assured me that she hoped as well as 
desired, to return soon to France ; that the French would be 
much to blame if the excesses of the revolution rose to such a 
height that she would have to prolong her absence. I knew from 
the queen that the departure of Mesdames was judged necessary, 
to leave the king free in his actions, since he would be forced to 
remove with his family." — Mme Campan, '' Me'moires.'" 

The chateau of Mesdames was sold during the Revo- 
lution, and has been almost entirely destroyed. The only 
remaining fragment, now known as Brimborion (a pavilion 
inhabited by Louis XV. whilst the chateau was building), 
is in private hands. A fine view over Paris (though inferior 
to that from Meudon, turning to the left from the station 
and taking the second turning to the right) is to be obtained 
from the terrace at the end of the Avenue Me'lanie. 

"One day, the Dauphin (son of Louis XV.) was leaning on 
the grand balcony of the chateau of Bellevue, with his eyes fixed 
on Paris ; a friend who saw him often, drew near, and said to 
him, ' M. the Dauphin has a pensive air ! ' 'I was thinking,' 
replied the prince, ' on the delight a sovereign ought to feel in 
making the happiness of so many people.' " — Morceatix historiqiies. 

The chapel of Notre Dame des Flammes, near the station, 
commemorates a terrible railway accident of May 8, 1842, 
when a train of eighteen carriages was thrown off the line, 
set on fire by the engine, and forty-five persons were burnt 
to death. 

13 y^. Chaville possessed a magnificent chateau, built by 
Louvois, but it was utterly destroyed at the Revolution. 

\\k. Viroflay. — There is a pleasant walk from hence to 
Versailles (4/^.) hy Jouy and Buc. 

18 k, Versailles. (See Chap. II.) Continuing the same 
line to Rambouillet we pass — 

22 /^. Saint-Cyr. — This place derives its name from the 



ST. CYJ^ 321 

little Gaulish Christian Cyrus, who was thrown from a rock 
by the Roman governor, at three years old, for refusing to 
change his religion after the martyrdom of his mother. 
A convent afterwards existed here. But St. Cyr was of no 
importance till Mme de Maintenon received it as a wed- 
ding present from Louis XIV., and transferred hither the 
college for indigent young ladies of noble birth, which she 
had previously instituted in the Chateau de Noisy near 
Versailles, and which she placed under the care of her 
friend, Mme de Brinon, an ex-Ursuline nun. Mansart was 
employed by Louis XIV. to build the immense edifice, 
v/hich still exists, to please Mme de Maintenon. 

" Her taste for St. Cyr seemed to be unable to grow more 
keen, ahd it did so every day. The more good she did there, the 
more she wished to do. Surrounded by all the pleasures of the 
court, she found a thousand pretexts to quit them. St. Cyr con- 
soled her for all her trials. She did not fear, in leaving the king, 
to find him on her return less attentive or less obliging ; she had 
not that curiosity about affairs that always fears to lose the thread 
of them. She hated visits to Fontainebleau, because they sepa- 
rated her too long from her famil}^ for she often said that she had 
no other than that of St. Cyr. 'When shall I see myself,' she 
wrote to the Superior, ' at that great table, where, surrounded by 
all my daughters, I am more at ease than at the royal banquets?' 
Of all the verses made in her praise, the four worst ones were the 
only ones that pleased her, because she found St. Cyr alluded to. 

" ' Elle voit les honneurs avec indifference : 

Son coeur de vains desirs n'est jamais combattu : 
Sa maison meme de plaisance 
Est une ecole de vertu.'" 
De la Beaumelle, ^'' Memohrs de Mine de Maintenon^ 

In order to obtain admittance to St. Cyr it was neces- 
sary to prove four degrees of nobility on the paternal side. 
The number of pupils was restricted to 250, the mistresses 
were forty, and there were forty "soeurs converses " for 
the service of the house. Whilst Mme de Maintenon was 



322 ^A YS NEAR PARIS 

Still living at Versailles, she often amused Louis XIV. by 
making the young ladies of St. Cyr get up one of the 
newly written plays of Racine, and act them in his pres- 
ence. Mme de Sevigne describes seeing the performance 
of Esther. 

"21 Feburary, 1689. I paid my court the other day at St. 
Cyr more agreeably than I could have imagined. We found our 
places reserved. I was on the second line behind the duchesses. 
.... We listened, the Marechal de Bellefond and I, to this 
tragedy with an attention that was remarked, and some well 
placed but veiled eulogies. I cannot tell you how exceedingly 
agreeable the piece was ; it is not easy to represent, and will 
never be repeated ; it is a combination of music, verses, songs, 
and persons, so perfect and complete that it left nothing to be 
desired ; the girls who played the kings and the other characters, 
seemed made for it ; the attention was general, and the only 
trouble was that of seeing so fine a tragedy terminate ; everything 
in it is sublime and touching ; the fidelity to sacred history in- 
spires respect ; all the songs suited the words, that were taken 
from the Psalms or Wisdom, and as introduced in the piece, were 
singularly beautiful. The approbation given to the piece is a 
measure of taste and attention. I was charmed, and the Mare- 
chal also, who left his place to go and tell the king how pleased 
he was, and that he was by the side of a lady worthy of having 
seen Esther. The king came to our seats, and, turning, addressed 
himself to me : ' Madame, I am informed that you are pleased.' 
Without being astonished, I replied : ' Sire, I am charmed ; words 
cannot express my feelings,' The king rejoined: 'Racine has 
great talent.' I said : " Sire, he has much talent, but, in truth, 
these young persons have much also ; they enter into the subject 
as if they had never done an3^thing else,' *Ah, yes,' he replied, 
'that is true.' And then his Majesty went away, and left me the 
object of envy ; as if there was no new-comer but I, as it were, 
the king was pleased to see my sincere admiration without noise 
or display." 

Mme de Maintenon ruled the institution of Saint Cyr 
as an autocrat, even during the lifetime of Louis XIV. 
When he was upon his deathbed, as soon as he had lost 
consciousness, she obeyed his wishes, by retiring there 



ST. CYR 323 

altogether, probably to avoid complications with his family, 
having lost those members of it who were fond of her, and 
having reason to distrust the rest. The day after she 
reached St. Cyr, the king died. Mile d'Aumale came into 
her room and said, " Madame, toute la communaute est \ 
I'eglise.' She understood, rose silently, and went herself 
to the church, where the office of the dead was being re- 
cited. The king had left her nothing in his will, but had 
simply recommended her to the care of his nephew, after- 
wards Regent. The Due d'Orle'ans was worthy of this 
confidence. A few days after the king's death, he paid her 
a visit, and continued her pension of 48,000 livres, in- 
serting in the brevet that " son rare desinteressement la lui 
avait rendue necessaire." 

The retreat of Mme de Maintenon was once inter- 
rupted. When the Czar Peter came to France in 1717, 
he insisted upon seeing the woman who, for thirty years, 
had played such an important part in the world. She 
comically describes the interview in a letter to Mme de 
Caylus. 

"July II, 1717. The Czar arrived at seven in the evening. 
He sat himself at my bed-head. He asked me if I was sick ; I 
answered, yes. He asked me what ailed me ; I replied, ' Ad- 
vanced old age.' He did not know what to say, and his inter- 
preter did not seem to understand. His visit was very short. . . . 
He had the curtains at the foot of my bed opened, in order to see 
me ; you can believe he would be satisfied." 

The disgrace of the Due du Maine, whose governess 
she had been, and whom she had brought up as her own 
child, was a bitter affliction to Mme de Maintenon. She 
could not rally from it. " Mourir est le moindre evene- 
ment de ma vie," she said one day to Besse, her doctor. 
She had no illness, only experienced "une grande difficultc 



324 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

de vivre." One day when Besse had forbidden her to eat, 
she wrote to Mme de Glapion, Superior of St. Cyr : 

" J'ai beau dire que j'ai beaucoup d'appetit et point de mal : 

Fagon, en des maux plus presents, 

M'abandonnait a ma sagesse, 
Et pour un rien, Saint-Cyr, de concert avec Besse, 

Me refuse des aliments ! 
Et voila ce que c'est qu'avoir quatre-vingts ans. 

Ordonnez done, ma chere fille, qu'on m'envoie ce que je de- 
mande. Voulez-vous que la posterite dise — 

* Cette femme qui, dans son temps, 
Fit un si brillant personnage, 
Eut a Saint-Cyr beaucoup d'enfants, 
Et mourut faute d'un potage.' " 

Mme de Glapion answered by sending the potage^ with 

these lines — . 

" Que Besse en veuille a Glapion, 
Malgre la Faculte vous serez obeie. 

Vous, mourir d'inanition ! 
Eh ! de tons vos enfants la grande passion 
Serait de vous donner leur vie." 

The Due de Noailles, who had married her niece, was 
present at the deathbed of Mme de Maintenon. " Adieu^, 
mon cher due," she said. " Dans quelques heures d'ici, 
je vais apprendre bien des choses." She died April 15, 
17 19. She had desired to be simply buried in the church- 
yard of St. Cyr. But the Due de Noailles erected a 
magnificent tomb to her in the middle of the choir, which 
was destroyed in the Revolution. Neither of her two 
husbands was mentioned in her epitaph. 

" Mme de Maintenon retired to St. Cyr, at the instant of the 
king's death, and had the good sense to deem herself dead to the 
world, and never to set foot out of the cloister of that house. 
She did not wish to see any one from outside, asked nothing. 



ST. CYR 



325 



recommended no one, nor mixed in anything where her name 
could be involved. 

" Mme de Maintenon, besides her chamber-women — for no 
man-servant entered the cloister — had two or sometimes three old 
maids, and six young girls, attached to her chamber, and both 
old and young were sometimes changed. As at court, she rose 
early and went to bed betimes. Her prayers lasted long ; she 
read also works of devotion ; sometimes she had a little history 
read by these )^oung girls, and amused herself by making them 
discuss it and by instructing them. She heard mass from a 
tribune against her chamber, often several offices, but very rarely 
in the choir. She communicated twice a week, usually between 
seven and eight in the morning, and then returned to her tribune, 
where, on these days, she remained for a long time. 

" She nominated all the superiors, both the first and her sub- 
alterns, and all the officials. A succinct account of current 
events was rendered to her ; but, as regards everything beyond 
that, the first superior took her orders from her. She was Ma- 
dame, quite short, in the house, where everything was in her 
hand, and although she had good and pleasant manners with the 
ladies of St. Cyr, and displayed kindness to the young girls, all 
trembled before her. Very rarely, indeed, did she see any one 
except the superiors and the officials, unless it happened that she 
sent for some one, or, more seldom still, when some one ventured 
to demand an audience, which she did not refuse. The first su- 
perior came to her when she liked, but did not abuse her privi- 
lege ; she gave her an account of everything, and received orders 
about everything. Mme de Maintenon saw few but her. No 
abbess, though a daughter of France, as there used to be, was 
ever so absolute, so punctually obeyed, so feared, so respected, 
and, with this, she was loved by almost all who were inmates of 
St. Cyr. The priests from outside were just as submissive and 
just as dependent. Never did she speak, in the presence of her 
young ladies, of anything that could allude to the government or 
the court ; very often, however, she spoke of the late king with 
praise, but without exaggeration, and never a word about in- 
trigues, cabals, or business." — St. Simon, '' Memoires" 

"Mme de Maintenon kept in a lofty room, wainscoted with 
oak, without paint, and furnished in varnished leather through- 
out. Before each seat there was a square of tapestry to place 
under the feet, because there was not even a carpet on the floor, 
so simple was the furniture." — Souvenirs de Marquise de Crdqui. 



326 ^^ ys NEAR PARIS 

The Emperor Napoleon I. restored St. Cyr — pillaged 
at the Revolution — as a military school. Its enormous 
monotonous white buildings, with high slated roofs, con- 
tain 350 pupils, and it annually gives about 140 young offi- 
cers to the army. The greater part of the former gardens 
are now a Champ de Mars. A black-marble slab in the 
chapel covers the remains of Mme de Maintenon, collected 
after the Revolution, and is inscribed — " Cy-git Mme de 
Maintenon, 1635-1719-1826."^ 

28^. Trappes^ \k. south (by the Bois de Trappes), is 
the site of the famous Abbey of Port Royal des Champs.'^ 

" He whose journey lies from Versailles to Chevreuse will 
soon find himself on the brow of a steep cleft or hollow, inter- 
secting the monotonous plain across which he has been passing. 
The brook which winds through the verdant meadows beneath 
him, stagnates into a large pool, retiecting the mutilated gothic 
arch, the water-mill, and the dovecot which rise from its banks ; 
with tbe farm-house, the decayed towers, the forest-trees, and in- 
numerable shrubs and creepers, which clothe the slopes of the 
valley. France has many a lovelier prospect, though this is not 
without its beauty ; and many a field of more heart-stirring inter- 
est, though this, too, has been ennobled by heroic daring ; but 
through the length and breadth of that land of chivalry and of 
song, the traveller will in vain seek a spot so sacred to genius, to 
piety, and to virtue. In those woods Racine first learnt the lan- 
guage — the universal language — of poetry. Under the roof of 
that humble farm-house, Pascal, Arnauld, Nicole, De Saci, and 

^ Her original epitaph, of great length, in Latin and French, contained the 
words — 

" Ici repose tres illustre dame, madame Fran90ise d'Aubigne, marquise de 
Maintenon, dame d'atour de Christine-Victoire de Baviere, dauphine de France. 
. . . Aussi perseveramment que sagement chere a Louis-le-Grand, Femme 
excellente au-deli de toutes les femmes de son siecle et de plusieurs precedents. 
. . . Une seconde Esther par la maniere dont elle a su plaire au roi ; une se- 
conde Judith par I'amour de la retraite et I'oraison avec ses cheres fiUes. Pau- 
vre, au milieu des richesses, par la liberalite envers les miserables ; humble, au 
combla de sa gloire, par son affection pour la modestie chr^tienne. Elle est de- 
c^dee le 15 avril, 1719, agee de 83 ans." 

2 Port Royal may be reached by the omnibus which runs between Verriferes 
and Massy on the line from Paris to Limours. 



PORT ROYAL 



327 



Tillemont, meditated those works which, as long as civilization 
and Christianity survive, will retain their hold on the gratitude 
and reverence of mankind. There were given innumerable 
proofs of the graceful good-humor of Henri IV. To this seclu- 
sion retired the heroine of the Fronde, Anne Genevieve, Duchess 
of Longueville, to seek the peace which the world could not give. 
Mme de Sevigne discovered here a place ' tout propre a inspirer 
le desir de faire son salut.' " — Sir James Stephen. 

The Benedictine abbey of Port Royal was founded in 
1204, by Eudes de Sully, Bishop of Paris. It was a poor 
abbey and only intended for twelve nuns. The lords of 
Montmorency and Montfort were its principal benefactors. 
Gradually it increased in prosperity. Honorius III. 
authorized the celebration of the sacred office within its 
walls, even when the whole country might lie under inter- 
dict, and a nun was permitted to keep seven fragments of 
the wafers consecrated on her profession, and with them 
to administer the Holy Sacrament to herself on as many 
successive days. Still, for four centuries, Port Royal was 
not remarkable. In the XVI. c. the rule of the convent 
had greatly relaxed when Marie-Angelique, one of the 
twenty children of Antoine Arnauld, having become a nun 
at eight, was appointed abbess at eleven years old (in 1602), 
her sister Agnes, of five years old, becoming abbess of St. 
Cyr. Six years later, the young abbess of Port Royal be- 
came its reformer. 

" A capucin monk who had left his convent on account of his 
libertine life, and who turned apostate in foreign lands, coming 
by chance to Port Royal in 1608, was asked by the abbess and 
her nuns to preach in their church. He did so, and the scoundrel 
preached with such force on the happiness of a religious life, on 
the beauty and holiness of the rule of Saint Benedict, that the 
young abbess was exceedingly moved. She formed the resolu- 
tion, not only to practice the rule in all its rigor, but even to em- 
ploy all her efforts to make her nuns observe it. . . . In less than 
five years community of goods, fasting, abstinence from meat, 



328 



DA YS N^AR PARIS 



silence, vigils, in fine, all the austerities of the rule of Saint Bene- 
dict were established at Port Royal." — Racine. 

The abbess Angelique secluded Port Royal from the 
world, and herself set the example of cutting off unneces- 
sary communication with it, by refusing admittance to her 
own parents and her sister Mme le Maitre, when they 
came to visit her one day ever after known as "la journee 
du guichet." 

" How deep was the peace, how holy the spirit of humility and 
retirement, how pure and spiritual the temperance and self-denial, 
and how fervent and zealous the spirit of charity which reigned 
within the walls of its enclosure. In this truly admirable com- 
munity might be seen united a rare example of industry, inspired 
by charity, and continued without intermission or relaxation ; of 
prayer without any suspension ; of faith, bearing continual and 
abundant fruits. In this society ambition had no place, nor was 
any contention found, but who should fill up the most vile, the 
most laborious, the most humiliating offices. No impatience was 
to be discovered in the sisters, nor any caprice in the mothers : 
and it might be truly said that, in this blessed community. Chris- 
tian love burnt with a bright, a burning, a clear and steady flame ; 
alike rendering obedience prompt, command reasonable, and de- 
votion to God all in all. 

" But nothing ever approached to the complete and entire dis- 
interestedness which so eminently characterized Port Royal, and 
which, from the abbess to the last of the servants, glowed as one 
soul, with an open and munificent generosit}'," — Schi?nmelpen- 
ninck. 

" Simplicity in the church, modesty in the domestics, silence 
in the parlors, little anxiety of the nuns to maintain conversation, 
little curiosity to learn the news of the world and even the affairs 
of their kindred, ceaseless labor and continual prayer." — Rachie. 

"The august Majesty of God made itself felt in this holy 
place. Jesus Christ present on the altar was adored continually, 
night and day, without interruption. The holy mysteries were 
offered with a holy awe which was religious and full of faith. The 
ardent love that these pious women had for Christ made them 
desire without ceasing to receive frequently the Divine Eucharist, 
with a fervor and a fire of which the activity was, nevertheless, 



PORT ROYAL 329 

sometimes checked by a keen feeling of humility and penitence." 

— Petitpled. 

The success which crowned the labors of the brave 
Angelique for the reformation of her own abbey led to her 
being employed in the reform of other religious houses, 
especially that of Maubuisson, which had fallen into great 
licence under the rule of a sister of the famous Gabrielle 
d'Estrees. Many of the nuns from this convent after- 
wards sought a refuge at Port Royal, but fever soon drove 
them from the over-crowded buildings, and the whole 
community was obliged to take refuge in the Rue St. 
Jacques at Paris, where a house had been purchased for 
them by Mme Arnauld, mother of the Mere Angelique. 
Here — in the " Convent of Port Royal de Paris " — it was 
that they became intimate with Saint-Cyran, then a pris- 
oner at Vincennes, and that they first began to follow him 
and Jansenius as their teachers. 

Meanwhile, the deserted buildings of Port Royal des 
Champs were occupied by three nephews of the Mere 
Angelique, the brothers Lemaitre, one of whom, Simon 
Lemaitre de Sacy, had translated the Bible, and Terence ; 
and another, Antoine, was fam.ous as an advocate. 

"Their example attracted five or six others, both secular 
persons and ecclesiastics, who, being, like them, disgusted with 
the world, came to be companions in their penitence. It was 
not, however, an idle penitence ; while some looked after the 
temporal aifairs of the abbey and labored to re-establish its affairs, 
the others did not disdain to cultivate the land, like common day 
laborers ; they even repaired part of the buildings that had fallen 
into ruin, and, by raising those that were too low and too much 
in the ground, rendered life in this desert more healthy and more 
comfortable than it had been. 

" Life at Port Royal was ascetic and singularly laborious. 
The recluses rose at three in the morning. After matins and 
lauds they kissed the ground after the manner of the Chartreux, 
and then passed long hours in prayer. They drank cider and 



33^ 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



water, one only excepted. Some wore hair-shirts ; all slept on 
straw. . . . Devotional exercises, nevertheless, did not absorb 
all the time of the recluses. To rescue from the Jesuits the educa- 
tion of the young — that is to say, of the future — they established 
at Port Royal the schools which made its glory, and which gave 
Racine to France. Lancelot was pre-eminently the teacher, 
Nicole seconded him, and Antoine Lemaistre did not disdain to 
weary his eloquent voice in the service of an audience of children. 
There were hours devoted to manual labor, to prune the trees, to 
look after the crops. But what ought to immortalize the em- 
ployment of so many solemn days is all the learned works 
which literature and education owe to Port Royal. Thus they 
lived happy and proud and intoxicated with heavenly hoping. 
Sometimes, at the decline of day, they climbed the heights, and 
made the echoes of the valley resound with their hymns." — Louis 
Blanc, ''Hist, de la re'vohition francaisc." 

Arnauld d'Andilly, father of the Mere Angelique, had 
now joined the band of recluses known as the '• solitaires 
de Port-Royal." With his companions, who included the 
well-known author Nicole, and the hellenist Lancelot, he 
also devoted himself to the work of education. Amongst 
their pupils the most illustrious was Jean Racine, who 
became the historian of a community in which his sister 
had taken the veil, and to which his mother had retired. 
Many of the best known literary works of the age ema- 
nated from Port Royal. The Logique of Arnaud; the 
Traites rudimentaires of Lancelot ; the Ethiqiies of Nicole ; 
the Histoire ecdksiastique of Lenain de Tillemont, were 
written there. The abbey became a famous school, in 
which statesmen were proud of having studied. " lis sont 
marques au coin de Port-Royal," became a phrase of 
literary or religious commendation. 

Twenty years had elapsed since the flight of the nuns 
from the malaria of Port Royal, when St. Cyran, who guided 
their actions from his prison at Vincennes, bade them 
return. " If the site was unhealthy, it was as easy to serve 



PORT ROYAL 



53 i 



God in a hospital as in a church, and no prayers were more 
acceptable to Him than those of the afflicted." The Mere 
Angelique answered, that in a church, where the presence 
of angels and an ever holier Power had once rested, it 
must be resting still, and therefore she would do his bid- 
ding. Many of her nuns accompanied her. They were 
welcomed by the "solitaires," who included the nearest 
relatives of the abbess. This was their only meeting. The 
men returned to the farm of Les Granges : the gates of the 
abbey were closed upon the nuns. Gradually the report 
of the holy atmosphere of Port Royal des Champs led 
many great persons, weary of the turmoil of life, to establish 
themselves in their neighborhood. The Due and Duchesse 
de Luynes built a chateau there, and the Duchesses de 
Liancourt and de Longueville made frequent retreats at 
the abbey. 

" Bound by no monastic vows, the men addressed themselves 
to such employments as each was supposed best qualified to fill. 
Schools for the instruction of youth in ever)^ branch of literature 
and science were kept by Lancelot, Nicole, Fontaine, and De 
Saci. Some labored at the translation of the Fathers, and other 
works of piety. Arnauld plied his ceaseless toils in logic, geom- 
etry, metaphysics, and theological debate. Physicians of high 
celebrity exercised their art in all the neighboring villages, Le 
Maitre and other eminent lawyers addressed themselves to the 
work of arbitrating in all the dissensions of the vicinage. There 
were to be seen gentlemen working assiduously as vine-dressers ; 
officers making shoes ; noblemen sawing timber and repairing 
windows ; a society held together by no vows, governed by no 
corporate laws, subject to no common superior, pursuing no joint 
designs, yet all living in unbroken harmony ; all following their 
respective callings, silent, grave, abstracted, self-afflicted by fast- 
ings, watchings, and humiliations — a body of penitents on their 
progress through a world which they had resolved at once to serve 
and to avoid. 

" Like the inhabitants of Les Granges, the nuns employed 
themselves in educating the children of the rich and poor, Jn 



332 DA YS A^EAR PARIS 

almsgiving, and in other works of mercy. Angelique, as abbess, 
exhibited a princely spirit of munificence — nourished and sus- 
tained by the most severe and self-denying economy. She and 
her sisterhood reserved for themselves little more than a place on 
their own list of paupers. So firm was her reliance.on the Divine 
bounty, and so abstemious her use of it, that she hazarded along 
course of heroic improvidence, justified by the event and ennobled 
by the motive ; but at once fitted and designed rather to excite the 
enthusiasm of ordinary mortals, than to aflford a model for their 
imitation. Wealth was never permitted to introduce, nor poverty 
to exclude, any candidate for admission as a novice or a pupil. 
On one occasion twenty thousand francs were given as a relief to 
a distressed community ; on another, four times that sum was 
restored to a benefactress, whose heart repented a bounty which 
she had no longer the right to reclaim. Their regular expenditure 
exceeded by more than sevenfold their certain income ; nor were 
they ever disappointed in their assurance, that the annual defi- 
ciency of more than forty thousand francs would be supplied by 
the benevolence of their fellow-Christians." — Sir James Stephen. 

As advocate to Parliament, Antoine Arnauld, the father 
of the Mere Angelique, had pleaded before the Sorbonne 
for the expulsion of the Jesuits. This is supposed to have 
been the first cause of the' remorseless vindictiveness of 
the Jesuits against his family. Arnauld also had praised 
the Augiistinus of Jansenius, a Flemish bishop, unknown 
to ordinary readers, in which the Jesuits pretended that 
five heretical propositions were to be found, attacking the 
mystery of divine grace. The very existence of these 
propositions in the work he had approved was utterly 
denied by Arnauld. On this insignificant subject arose the 
great quarrel of Jesuits and Jansenists. The work of 
Jansenius had been condemned by the Pope, and the 
Port-Royalists were condemned by the Jesuits for not 
finding in that work the passages which the Pope said were 
to be found there. Anne of Austria was appealed to, and 
sent her officers to eject the nuns and recluses of Port Royal, 



PORT ROYAL 333 

but for the time the abbey was saved by an apparent 
miracle. Mile Perrier, niece of Blaise Pascal, a scholar 
eleven years old, was apparently cured oi fistula lacrymalis 
upon her eye being touched by a thorn from the Holy 
Crown preserved at Port Royal ! The Court surgeon con- 
firmed the truth of the story, and the queen-mother revoked 
her mandate against the place to which so great a grace had 
been granted. 

The quarrel between the Jesuits and the Port-Royalists 
lasted sixty years, during which the Jesuits represented 
scholastic, the Jansenists spiritual, religion. During this 
time Blaise Pascal, who had joined the recluses of Port 
Royal des Champs, published his Lettres Provinciales. This 
for a time assisted to ward off the fall of the abbey, but at 
length an edict was obtained from Louis XIV., closing its 
schools, and forbidding the further admission of postulants 
to the convent. The number of the nuns was reduced by 
three-fourths. 

At this time the Mere Angelique was in extreme old age. 
She went to die in the convent at Paris, and on her arrival 
found the royal officers already in possession and employed 
in dispersing the inmates. But she was permitted to expire 
within the monastic walls, and was brought back for burial 
to Port Royal des Champs, where the spot selected for her 
grave was just outside the grille of the nuns' choir. 

After the death of their mother, the society of Port 
Royal, both at Paris and in the country, underwent renewed 
persecution from the Archbishop of Paris. " They may be 
pure as angels," he said, "but they are proud as devils," 
and he set himself to grind them to submission. But the 
Port-Royalists found a new defender in Anne Genevieve de 
Bourbon, Duchesse de Longueville (sister of the great 
Conde and the Prince de Conti), the heroine of the Fronde, 



334 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

who^ at the close of its cruel and last war, had retired to 
the valley of Port Royal, and whose disinterested and gen- 
erous conduct had obtained for her not only the pardon, 
but the reverence of Louis. By the personal influence of 
the duchess with the king, and by her eloquent letters to 
the pope (Clement IX.), the imprisoned Port-Royalists were 
set at liberty and the abbey and schools were reopened. 
Mme de Longueville herself came to reside permanently 
at Port Royal, in a hotel which she built close to the abbey. 
It was here that she heard of the death of her son, killed 
in battle in 1672. 

"Mme de Longueville breaks one's heart. . . . Mile de 
Vertus returned two days ago to Port Royal, where she is almost 
always ; they went in quest of her with M. Arnauld, to tell her 
this terrible news. Mile de Vertus had only to show herself — her 
sudden return sufficiently indicated something fatal. In fact, as 
soon as she appeared : ' Ah ! Mademoiselle, how is my brother? ' 
Her thoughts dared not go further. ' Madame, he is recovering 
from his wound ; there has been a battle. ' ' And my son ? ' There 
was no answer. ' Ah ! Mademoiselle, my son, my dear child — an- 
swer me — is he dead?' 'Madame, I have no words to answer 
you.' ' Ah ! my dear son, he was killed on the field? had he not 
a single moment ? O, my God, what a sacrifice ! ' and then she fell 
on her bed, and all that the keenest grief could do — convulsions, 
a deadly silence, suppressed cries, bitter tears, appeals to Heaven, 
tender and piteous complaints — she experienced them all. She 
sees certain people, takes some soup, because God willed it. She 
has no repose ; her health, already very bad, is visibly altered. 
As for me, my wish for her is death, as I do not see that she can 
live after such a loss." — Mme de Se'vigne', ^^ Letlres." 

Ten years of rest passed over the valley, in which the 
most distinguished of the original recluses died, and were 
laid in its peaceful cemetery, with Racine, the warrior 
Prince 'de Conti, and the Due de Liancourt, who had also 
sought a retreat there. In 1679 ^^^ Duchesse de Longue- 
ville also died. Mme de Maintenon, herself governed by the 



PORT ROYAL 335 

Jesuits, was now ruling the conduct of Louis XIV., the dis- 
reputable Harlay was Archbishop of Paris, and Port Royal, 
bereft of all powerful protectors, was doomed. The famous 
recluses were banished, the nuns were despoiled of their 
estates, they were interdicted the sacraments of the 
Church, and on October 29, 1709, the last fifteen remain- 
ing nuns were driven out of their convent by an armed 
force, some being so old and infirm that they had to be 
carried away in litters, and died from their removal. 

" In a grey autumnal morning, a long file of armed horse- 
men, under the command of D'Argenson, was seen to issue from 
the woods which overhung the ill-fated monastery. In the name 
of Louis he demanded and obtained admission into that sacred 
enclosure. Seated on the abbatial throne, he summoned the 
nuns into his presence. They appeared before him veiled, silent, 
and submissive. Their papers, their title-deeds, and their prop- 
erty were then seized, and proclamation made of a royal decree 
which directed their immediate exile. It was instantly carried into 
effect. Far and wide along the summits of the neighboring hills 
might be seen a thronging multitude of the peasants whom they 
had instructed, and of the poor whom they had relieved. Bitter 
cries of indignation and of grief, joined with fervent prayers, 
arose from these helpless people, as, one after another, the nuns 
entered the carriages drawn up for their reception. Each per- 
sued her solitary journey to the prison destined for her. Of 
these venerable women, some had passed their eightieth year, 
and the youngest was far advanced in life. Laboring under 
paralysis and other infirmities of old age, several of them reached 
at once their prisons and their graves. Others died under the 
distress and fatigues of their journey. Some possessed energies 
which no sufferings could subdue. Mme de Renicourt, for ex- 
ample, was kept for two years in solitary confinement ; in a cell, 
lighted and ventilated only through the chimney ; without fire, 
society, or books. ' You may persecute, but you will never 
change Mme de Renicourt,' said the archbishop ; 'for [such was 
his profound view of the phenomenon] she has a square head, 
and people with square heads are always obstinate.' 

" Last in the number of exiles appeared, at the gates of the 
abbey, the prioress, Louise de St. Anastasie Mcsnil de Cour- 



336 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



tiaux. She had seen her aged sisters one by one quit forever 
the abode, the associates, and the employments of their lives. 
To each she had given her parting benediction. She shed no 
tears, she breathed no murmur, nor for a moment betrayed the 
dignity of her office, nor the constancy of her mind. ' Be faith- 
ful to the end,' were the last words which she addressed to the 
last companion of her sorrows. And nobly did she fulfil her 
own counsels. She was conducted to a convent, where, under a 
close guard, she was compelled to endure the utmost rigors of a 
jail. Deprived of all those religious comforts which it is in the 
power of man to minister, she enjoyed a solace, and found a 
strength, which it was not in the power of man to take away. In 
common with the greater part of her fellow-sufferers, she died with- 
out any priestly absolution, and was consigned to an unhallowed 
grave. They died the martyrs of sincerity ; strong in the faith 
that a lie must ever be hateful in the sight of God, though infalli- 
ble popes should exact it, or an infallible Church, as represented 
by cardinals and confessors, should persuade it. 

" Unsatiated by the calamities of the nuns, the vengeance of 
the enemies of Port Royal was directed against the buildings 
where they had dwelt, the sacred edifice where they had wor- 
shipped, and the tombs in which their dead had been interred. 
The monastery and the adjacent church were overthrown from 
their foundations. Workmen, prepared by hard drinking for 
their task, broke open the graves in which the nuns and recluses 
of former times had been interred. With obscene ribaldry, and 
outrages too disgusting to be detailed, they piled up a loathsome 
heap of bones and corpses, on which dogs were permitted to 
feed. What remained was thrown into a pit, prepared for the 
purpose, near the neighboring churchyard of St. Lambert. A 
wooden cross, erected by the villagers, marked the spot ; and 
many a pilgrim resorted to it, to pray for the souls of the de- 
parted, and for his own. At length no trace remained of the 
fortress of Jansenism to oflfend the eye of the Jesuits, or to per- 
petuate the memory of the illustrious dead with whom they had so 
long contended. The mutilated gothic arch, the water-mill, and 
the dovecot, rising from the banks of the pool, with the decayed 
towers and the farm-house on the slopes of the valley, are all that 
now attest that it was once the crowded abode of the wise, the 
learned, and the good. In that spot, however, may still be seen 
the winding brook, the verdant hills, and the quiet meadows — 
Nature's indestructible monuments to the devout men and women 



PORT ROYAL 



337 



who nurtured there affections which made them lovely in their 
lives, and hopes which rendered them triumphant in death." 
—Sir James Stephen. 

" The queen mother, and the king more than she afterwards, 
seduced by the Jesuits, allowed themselves to be persuaded by 
them of the exact and precise contradictory of the truth ; that is, 
that every other school except theirs was hostile to the royal au- 
thority, and had no other spirit than that of independence and re- 
publicanism. The king knew no more than a child about this or 
many other things. . . . They succeeded, then, in disposing of him 
at their pleasure by pricking his conscience, and his jealousy for 
his authority over everything that concerned this affair, and, 
further, over everything that had the slightest indication that way, 
that is, over everything and everybody whom it pleased them to 
indicate as on that side. 

" By these means they dispersed those holy illustrious soli- 
taries whom study and penitence had gathered at Port Royal, and 
who made such great disciples ; to whom Christians will be ever 
indebted for those famous works that have diffused so bright 
and solid a light, to discriminate truth from appearances, the nec- 
essary from the bark, by touching with the finger a region so 
little known and so obscured, and, besides, so disguised, by en- 
lightening faith, kindling charity, developing man's heart, regu- 
lating his morals, offering him a faithful mirror, and guiding 
him between just fear and reasonable hope. It was, then, to 
persecute them to the last remnant and everywhere, that the 
devotion of the king and of Mme de Maintenon conforma- 
bly with his was exercised till another field seemed more fitted 
to be brought before this prince." — St. Simon, ^^ Mdmoires" 

1715. 

" I do not wish to say that, as regards the solitaries of Port 
Royal, the charge of Jansenism was altogether baseless ; but 
their doctrines, to the extent to which the masters of the school 
professed them, were certainly inoffensive. Whatever, too, were 
the opinions of the solitaries, their morals were irreproachable. 
As much could not be said of their adversaries. This war, de- 
clared against an institution which had made itself known only 
b)'- its merits, whose members aspired to no power, is one of the 
saddest pages in the history of the XVII. century. On the side of 
Port Royal were virtue, conscience, light, great works ; on the 
side of their adversaries was craft. It was craft that triumphed." 
— P. Barrere, ' * Les /cnvains fran^ais, " 



338 £>AVS NEAR PARIS 

It was in January, 17 10, that the destruction of the 
buildings of Port Royal was ordered by royal edict, and, 
in 17 12, the church was pulled down. The bodies of the 
Arnauld family, of Racine, De Saci, and Lemaitre had al- 
ready been removed by their relations, but the tombs of 
the other Port-Royalists were desecrated and their remains 
exhumed. 

Port Royal is now the property of the Due de Luynes, 
who has cleared out the area of the noble church (built by 




PORT ROYAL. 

the architect of Amiens cathedral), showing the bases of 
its columns. A walnut tree is pointed out as contempo- 
rary with the Mere Angelique, and a well which is called 
"la fontaine de la Mere Angelique." The cellars of the 
Hotel de Longueville also exist, and considerable remains 
of Les Granges. Amongst the many monumental slabs 
torn up from the church were those of the Arnaulds, and 
Sacys, of Nicole, Pascal, and Racine. The last, after find- 
ing a temporary resting-place in the church of Magny-les- 



LEVY-SAINT-NOM 339 

Hameaux, is now in St. Etienne du Mont at Paris. Many 
of the bodies from Port Royal were removed to the church 
of St Lambert on the road to Chevreuse, with some monu- 
ments to the nuns, which may still be seen. 

A drive from Versailles or Trappes to Port Royal may 
easily be continued to embrace Dampierre and Chevreuse, 
whence one may return to Paris by the line from Limours 
(see Ch. XVI.). It is 5 k. from Port Royal to Dampierre, 
or 6 k. (direct) to Chevreuse, which is 4 k. from Dampierre. 
The great agricultural institute of Grignon (Ch. XVIII.), 
established in a Louis XIV. chateau, which was sometimes 
used as a residence by Napoleon I., may also be visited 
from Trappes. 

■^2) k. La Verriere^ which takes its name from a 
chateau, which belonged to the Comte de la Valette. An 
omnibus leaves the station of La Verriere twice a day for 
Dampierre (Ch. XVI.), 13 k. (75 c; 50 c). The road 
passes Mesnil St. Denis, a chateau of temp. Louis XIII. 
In the church are two XVI. c. statues of Sts. Fiacre a.nd 
Catherine. To the south is the pretty little valley of the 
Yvette, on the north bank of which is a XIII. c. chapel, 
which is the only existing remains of the Abbey of Notre 
Dame de la Roche. In the interior of the nave and tran- 
sept are a number of gravestones of abbots, and the choir 
tombs of the family of Levy, followers of Simon de Mont- 
fort in the Albigensian crusade. The keys of the chapel 
are kept at the farm-house, which has a fine old chimney- 
piece. 

Twenty minutes of descent take us from the chapel to 
Levy-Saint-Nom^ a picturesque village on the Yvette. In 
the church is an ancient (stucco) image of the Virgin, 
brought from the chapel of Notre Dame de la Roche, and 
supposed to have been originally dug up by a bull with 



340 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

his horns, of a miraculous reputation, which twice a year 
(March and September) brings mothers to touch it with 
the linen of their children. A payment of lo c. is de- 
manded for every shirt which touches the holy image. At 
the bottom of the valley are the ruins of an unfinished 
chateau, begun in the XVI. c. by Jacques de Crussol, 
" grand-panetier de France." 

An omnibus runs between La Verriere and Montfort 
I'Amaury, \2 k. distant (see Ch. XVIII. ). The road passes 
the ruined castle of Maurepas, one of the domains which 
Louis XIV. gave to his minister, Louis Phdlippaux, in ex- 
change for Marly. When this castle was taken by the 
English, in the reign of Charles VI., and its garrison were 
tried, one of them, named Moniquet, confessed to having 
thrown down seven men alive into the castle well and 
crushed them by hurling huge stones upon their heads. ^ 
The village of Le Tremblay is remarkable for its chateau, 
which belonged to the family of Leclerc du Tremblay, of 
which the famous Pere Joseph, the confidential friend of 
Cardinal Richelieu, was a member. 

A little east is the moated Chateau de Pontchartrain 
(see Ch. XVIII.). 

38 k. Les Essarts du Roi, — To the right of the railway, 
before reaching this station the train passes the site of the 
Priory of Haute-Bruyere (destroyed at the Revolution), 
which was founded by the notorious Bertrade de Montfort, 
queen of Philippe I. Its chapel contained her tomb, with 
those of her illustrious descendants, the Comtes Simon and 
Amaury de Montfort. Here also the heart of Francois I., 
afterwards moved to St. Denis, was long preserved in a 
vase of white marble. Nothing remains except the 

^ Journal du rigne de Charles VL 



RAMBOUILLET 



341 



Chapelle des Peres, for in the order of Fontevrault a 
convent for men was always attached to a monastery for 

women. 

The chateau of Artoire was built under Louis XIV. 
Pedestrians may reach the ruins of Vaux le Cernay (Ch. 
XVI.) in a walk of i|- hour from Les Essarts. 

48 >^. Rambouillet (Hotel die Lio?i d'Or; Dauphiti ; 
Croix Blanche). A town almost confined to a single 




CHATEAU DE RAMBOUILLET. 



Street, La Grande Rue, 3 k. in length : in it is a Hospice 
founded by the Comte de Toulouse in 1731. 

The Chateau, preceded by a Cour d'Honneur, has an 
enormous round tower, battlemented and machicolated, 
the only remnant of the ancient moated castle, which was 
entered by a drawbridge, and which belonged to the family 
D'Angennes, of whom Jean d'Angennes sold Cherbourg 
to the English. The last of the family was Charles d'An- 
gennes, whose wife, the Marquise de Rambouillet, was 
celebrated as the literary leader of the XVII. c. Her 



342 J>A YS NEAR PARIS 

eldest daughter brought Rambouillet by marriage to the 
Due de Montausier, governor of " Monseigneur," son of 
Louis XIV. The property was sold by Fleuriau d'Arme- 
nonville to the Comte de Toulouse, the legitimized younger 
son of Louis XIV. and Mme de Montespan, whose son, 
the Due de Penthievre, sold it for sixteen million francs 
to Louis XVI. The king was devoted to the place, but 
Marie Antoinette detested it. " Que voulez-vous que je 
fasse dans cette crapaudibre ? " she said, when the king 
wanted to take her there. Rambouillet became national 
property under the Republic ; it was part of the civil list 
of Napoleon I., Louis XVIII., Charles X., and Napoleon 
IIL 

The main buildings of the chateau date from the XV. c, 
but have been altered in the .XVI. c. and XVII. c. They 
are very picturesque as seen from the gardens, which were 
adorned by the Comte de Toulouse with tanks, lime ave- 
nues, and statues, after the fashion of Versailles. 

Cardinal de Bellay was frequently here in the time of 
D'Angennes, to whom he was nearly related, and in his 
suite, as a doctor, came Rabelais. 

" At the foot of the chateau there is a very large plain in the 
midst of which, by a freak of nature, is formed a circle of great 
rocks, between which tall trees grow and form a ver)' agreeable 
shade. This is the spot where Rabelais amused them, as the 
neighborhood says. And to-day still a certain hollow stone is 
called the Kettle of Rabelais." — Tallemant des ReauXy 1658. 

The spot thus spoken of is now surrounded by water 
and called Vile des Roches, but the cave of Rabelais is 
still to be seen there. The Ferme experimentale is due to 
Louis XVI., and the Laiterie de la Reine was made by him 
for Marie Antoinette, to console her in temporary absences 
from her beloved Trianon. It was afterwards a favorite 



RAMBOUILLET 



343 



spot with Marie Louise, for whom Napoleon I. redecorated 
the little temple, the original decorations having been 
removed to Malmaison. 

It was in the old palace of Rambouillet that Francois I. 
died, March 13, 1547. 

"A slow fever consumed this monarch, who moved from 
chateau to chateau without finding anywhere repose or alleviation ; 
he was, finally, obliged to take to his bed at Rambouillet, and the 
progress of an inveterate ulcer, which had tormented him for eight 




GARDENS OF RAMBOUILLET. 



years, soon left no hope. His last counsels to his son where to 
lower the taxes, to keep, as ministers, d'Annehaut and the Car- 
dinal de Tournon, not to recall Montmorency to office, and above 
all, to be sure not to appoint the Guises, 'pane qtiils tendroient de 
mettre lui et ses en f ants en pourpoint et son peuple en chemise.^ 

"The dying man's words must have been forgotten before 
his body was cold. Diane de Poitiers and the Comte d'Aumale 
were there joyfully watching the progress of the king's agony. 
' He is going, the gallant ; he is going,* said Fran5ois de Guise." 
Martin, ''"'Hist, de Franc e^ 

Catherine de Medicis and Charles IX. waited at Ram- 



344 



DA YS NEAR PARIS 



bouillet for the issue of the battle of Dreux. Since then 
its principal visitors have been fallen royalties in flight. 
Leon Gozlan says that the gate of the chateau is the funeral 
arch through which the dynasties of France have passed 
to the grave. Henri III. fled hither from Paris on the day 
of the barricades, and ^' y coucha tout botte'." Marie 
Louise came hither, March 29, 18 14, flying from Paris, 
followed, on the next day, by Joseph Bonaparte. Return- 
ing to Rambouillet a month later, the Empress received the 
visit of the allied sovereigns here, and set out hence for 
Vienna. In the following year Napoleon came hither after 
his second abdication, on his way to Rochefort, where he 
intended to embark for America. At the close of the 
"com^die de quinze ans " Charles X. fled hither (July 31, 
1830) from St. Cloud, and here he abdicated and the Due 
d'Angouleme abandoned his rights, in favor of the Due de 
Bordeaux, who was proclaimed as Henri V.^ 

*' King Charles X. arrived at Rambouillet ; he had met on 
the road the Duchesse de Berry ; he was escorted by the body- 
guard and the gendarmerie d'^lite. 

" He was received, not with the demonstrations of joy, and 
the festal air which lately welcomed his presence, but as an un- 
fortunate and fugitive prince. No lights had been prepared in 
the court of honor. The carriage drew up at the foot of the 
steps. 

"Napoleon, flying from Malmaison, had come to the same 
chateau, to pass the first night of his eternal exile. 

"Next day, August i, at five in the morning, Madame the 
Duchesse dAngouleme arrived, having left Vichy two days be- 
fore. She avoided Paris, passed through Versailles, disguised 
as a country-woman, and, -in one of the little public vehicles on 
service in the neighborhood, crossed through the bands of insur- 
gents, and finally reached Rambouillet in company with the 

* Louis XIV. reigned: liis son did not reign ; Louis XV. reigned : his son 
did not reign ; Louis XVI. reigned : iiis son did not reign ; Napoleon I. reigned : 
his son did not reign ; Charles X. reigned : his son did not reign ; Napoleon III. 
reigned : his son did not reign. 



kAMBOUILLET 



345 



Dauphin, who, having received notice, came to meet her. The 
king advanced as far as the steps to receive her ; she flung herself 
into his arms. 

" ' Ah, my father,' she exclaimed, ' my father, what have you 
done? At least,' she added, ' we will never separate.'" — Souve- 
nirs (ill Due de Broglie. 

Under Napoleon III. the palace of Rambouillet was 
made a refuge for the children of officers — "I'Ecole d'essai 
des enfants de troupe." 

There are pleasant drives and walks in the Forest of 
Rambouillet. At St. Hilarion are ruins of a XIII. c. 
chapel. 



XVIII. 

MONTFOR t-hama ur y and DRE UX} 

THE line (from the Gare Montparnasse) is the same 
as Ch. XVII., as far as St. Cyr; hence it crosses 
featureless corn-lands by — 

29 k. Villepreiix-les-Clayes. In the woods of Arry near 
Villepreux, a fete is held on Whit Monday, at the Chapelle 
St. yoiia7i. 

33 k, Plaisir-Grignon. An omnibus takes travellers 
in fifteen minutes to the great agricultural institution of 
Grignon, founded in 1827. The handsome church of 
Grignon is XIII. c. 

40 k. Villiers-Neauphle. On the right, in the valley of 
the Mauldre, at Neauphle-le- Vieux, are considerable re- 
mains of a Benedictine abbey and church, founded 1066, 
and now turned into a farm. 2 k. left of the station is the 
noble moated Chateau de Pontchartrain, built by Paul 
Phelypeaux Secretary of State (ob. 162 1), and enriched by 
his descendants, who for four generations filled high gov- 
ernment offices. It is now occupied by Comte Henchel 
de Donnersmack. 

An omnibus connects the station with Beynes, where 

* These two places may be united in a pleasant sumraer-day's excursion 
from Paris. It will then be necessary to leave Montfort-l'Amaury station for 
Dreux at 1.56. 



ON TFOR T-VA MAURY 3 4^ 

the church contains a magnificent renaissance retable, and 
which has remains of a moated castle, flanked by eight 
towers. 

45 k. Montfort-V Amaury . It is 2 k. from the station, 
by a straight avenue of planes, to the quaint, seldom- 
visited town (omnibus, 40 c. ; Hotel des Voyageurs ; de 
Paris — good restaurant), which is overlooked by the 
ruined castle of the Comtes de Montfort. This famous 
family descended from Charlemagne, through Judith 
(daughter of Charles le Chauve), who married Baudouin 
Bras-de-fer, Comte de Flandre. Their grandson, Guil- 
laume, Comte de Hainaut, married the heiress of Epernon 
and Montfort. He fortified the latter place, which took 
the name of his son, Amaury. Simon, son of Amaury, was 
the father of the famous Bertrade, who fled from her first 
husband, Foulques de Rechin, Comte d'Anjou, to marry 
Philippe I. of France, who was already married himself. 
The pair were excommunicated, nevertheless Bertrade 
lived prosperously with the king for sixteen years, and 
even contrived to reconcile her first and second husbands, 
and dine with them together at Angers, and sit with them 
under the same canopy at church — the king by her side, 
Foulques on a stool at her feet. Bertrade died a nun. 
Her brother, Amaury IV., a famous warrior, sometimes 
the ally and often the enemy of his sovereign, was the 
grandfather of the celebrated and cruel Simon de Mont- 
fort, who overthrew the Counts of Toulouse and acquired 
their dominions. His son, Amaury VII., resigned the 
countship of Toulouse to Louis VIIL, for the dignity of 
constable. 

But the family history was by no means ended yet. 
The son of Amaury VII. only left a daughter, who married 
(1250) the Comte de Dreux. Yolande, heiress of Dreux 



348 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

and Montfort, married first Alexander III. of Scotland, 
and secondly Arthur II., Due de Bretagne. The son of 
her second marriage, Jean de Montfort, disputed the ducal 
crown with his niece, Jeanne, wife of Charles de Blois. 
The son of Jean de Montfort, of the same name, after 
gaining the battle of Auray, where his rival was killed, be- 
came duke, and the Dukes of Brittany continued to be also 
Counts of Montfort till the marriage of Anne of Brittany 
with Charles VIII., and afterwards with Louis XII. In 
1537, Frangois I. gave up to Spain the countship of Mont- 
fort-1'Amaury, but recovered it seven years after. It after- 
wards belonged to Catherine de Medicis, to her son the 
Due d'Anjou, then to the Due d'Alengon. At the death 
of the latter, Henri III. gave it to the Due d'Epernon. 
Returning to the CrDwn, it was exchanged, in 1692, by 
Louis XIV. with the duchy of Chevreuse. Never had 
fortress so many illustrious owners. 

The splendid Parish Churchy chiefly renaissance, has 
some small remains of the original building, given to the 
abbey of St. Magloire at Paris, in 1072. The choir is 
XV. c, except the flying buttresses added in the XVI. c, 
to which the nave belongs. The tower is of 1613. The 
vaulting of the side aisles has very rich pendants. A great 
deal of fine stained-glass of 1578 remains, most of the 
windows — superb in color — representing scriptural sub- 
jects, with the donors kneeling in front, often presented 
by their patron saints. In the first window (right) kneel 
Henri III. and Catherine de Medicis, attended by pages 
and ladies. Facing the church is the castle on its hill, and 
La Porte Bardou closing the uphill street, and supposed 
to derive its name from Hugues Bardoulf, father-in-law of 
Simon de Montfort. From a side street on the right, in 
ascending the hill, a pretty flamboyant portal gives access 



MONTFORT-VAMA UR Y 



349 



to the XV. c. cloisters of a convent, with good wooden 
vaulting, the enclosed space being now used as a cemetery. 
Amongst the tombs is that of the Duchesse de Bethune- 
Charost, daughter of the Marquis de Tourzel, governess 
of Louis XVII. Little remains of the castle except two 
towers, one hexagonal, of admirable brick- and stone-work. 
There are some ruins of another castle near the chateau 
of Groussaye. 




,--^,,.,KT^5^«r^ 



PORTE BARDOtT, MONTFORT-l'aMAURY. 

The modern chapel of Notre Dame du Ckene, on the 
road to Artoire, contains a " miraculous " statue of the 
Virgin, said to have been found in an oak. Near this is 
the XVII. c. chateau of Mesnuls, which belongs to the 
Comte de Nogent. In the neighboring forest of St. Leger 
was the Chateau de St. Hubert^ a richly-decorated hunting- 
lodge, built by Gabriel for Louis XIV. and destroyed by 
Louis XVI. 

56 y^. Tacoi^nieres. To the right of the line is Riche- 



35© BAYS NEAR PARIS 

bourg, which has a fine XV. c. church, with a peculiar and 
graceful spire. 

62, k. Houdan (omnibus, 25 c. ), the ancient Hodincum, 
retains its old fortress-tower, built by Amaury III. de 
Montfort (c. 1130). It has a fine unfinished gothic church, 
and (39 Rue de Paris) a richly-ornamented old timber 
mansion. 6 k. east, at Gambais^ is a large moated chateau 
of the XIV. c. 

82 k. Dreux (Hotel du Paradis, good), crowned by its 
royal burial-place, and the remains of the castle of the 
Comtes de Dreux. 

The town — said to have been the capital of the Duro- 
casses in the reign of Agrippa — has sustained many sieges, 
and (December 19, 1562) was the scene of a sanguinary 
battle, between the Protestants under Conde' and Coligny, 
and the Catholics under the "triumvirate" of the Con- 
stable de Montmorency, the Due de Guise, and Mare'chal 
St. Andre. Eight thousand men fell in the battle, in 
which the Catholics were victorious, the Prince de Conde 
on the Protestant side, and Montmorency on the Catholic 
side, being taken prisoners, and St. Andre being killed. 

The magnificent Church of St. Pierre is chiefly flam- 
boyant, but the choir and the columns of the nave are 
XII. c. and XIII. c. The fine gothic portal is by Clement 
Metezeau, a native of Dreux. The stained glass is of great 
beauty and interest. In the nave are remains of a series of 
the Apostles ; in the choir several noble life-size figures of 
saints ; in the south transept the Descent from the Cross 
and the Sacrifice of Isaac. In the side chapels are a 
Crucifixion ; scenes fi*om the story of the sainted shoe- 
makers, Crispin and Crispinian ; the Ascension ; the Bap- 
tism of Clovis ; St. John ; Notre Dame de Pitie ; St. 
Blaise ; St. Sebastian ; fragments of the story of Notre 



DREUX 



351 



Dame de Lorette, and of that of St. Fiacre. The (restored) 
windows of the Chapelle de la Vierge narrate the history of 
the Virgin. Some of the side chapels of the nave have 
remains of frescoes representing the pilgrimage of the in- 
habitants of Dreux to St. James of Compostella, in the 
XVII. c. and XVIII. c. On the wall facing the altar is an 
armed knight, with the epitaph of Mercceur de France, 
1562. A curious benitier of XII. c. comes from the old 
collegiate church of St. Etienne. The organ is of 16 14. 




DREUX. 



Near the church is a very fine old clock-tower. The 
renaissance Hotel de Ville was built 15 12-1537. It con- 
tains a sculptured portal from the Chateau de Cre'cy, and 
armor found on the battlefield of Ivry. The bell, founded 
under Charles IX., is surrounded with a representation of 
the Procession des Flambarts, which formerly took place 
at Christmas at Dreux. 

The Orleans Chapel rises picturesquely on the hill at 
the end of the principal street. There are two ascents, one 



252 DAYS NEAR PARIS 

for carriages, and a shorter one for pedestrians, winding up 
to the grounds of the chateau, which are open to the pubHc. 
Very httle of the ancient castle remains, but its enclosure 
is occupied by a garden, in the centre of which is the 
Chapelk royale, built by the Dowager Duchess of Orleans 
in 1813, and gothicized by Louis Philippe in 1839. The 
architecture is wretched, but the contents are of the deepest 
interest. For admission apply to the coJtcierge on the left 
of the entrance to the garden. Only funeral services are 
now held here. Since the " chateau en planches " was de- 
stroyed in 1848, the family have arrived for the services 
in the morning, leaving again in the afternoon. 

The beautiful stained windows of the antechapel repre- 
sent Christ in the Garden of Olives ; the Deposition ; St. 
Arnould washing the feet of pilgrims ; and St. Adelaide, 
Queen of Hungary, distributing alms. 

The rotunda or choir is the original part of the church. 
The beautiful glass of the windows has figures of saints — 
the Due d'Orleans is represented as St. Ferdinand, Prin- 
cess Louise as St. Amelie, Louis Philippe as St. Philippe. 
A stair descends behind the altar to the crypts and chapel 
of the Virgin, entirely occupied by the royal monuments. 

Right of the steps is the tomb of Mile de Montpensier, the two- 
years-old daughter of Louis Philippe, by Pradier. 

Left of the steps, the Due de Penthievre, eight-years-old son of 
Louis Philippe. 

Facing the steps, the huge tomb of King Louis Philippe and 
Queen Marie Amelie, arranged to support their effigies — that of 
the king standing, with his hand resting upon the kneeling 
queen. 

Right. Princess Marie, Duchesse of Wurtemberg. The an- 
gel above was her last work in sculpture. 

Right, in the sanctuary. The Due d'Orleans, eldest son of 
Louis Philippe, 1842. The tomb was designed by Ary Scheffer, 
and is very noble and touching. Behind (in a separate chapel, 



DREUX 



353 



being a Protestant) is Helene de Mecklembourg-Schvverin, Du- 
chesse d'Orleans (1S58), her hand outstretched from the dark 
chapel, so as almost to touch her husband. 

Right. Maria Clementina of Austria, Princess of Salerno, 
mother of the Duchesse d'Aumale. 

Left. Mme Adelaide, 1847, sister of Louis Philippe, beauti- 
ful in lace and ermine ; by Millet. 

Left. The crowned figure of the Duchesse d'Orleans, mother 
of Louis Philippe, and foundress of the chapel — exquisitely 
beautiful. 

Left. The Duchesse de Bourbon-Conde, aunt of the king, 
and mother of the Due d'Enghien. 

Turning left from the steps. Two children of the Corate de 
Paris ; an exquisite work of Franceschi. A child, bearing a 
cross with one hand, lifts his baby brother to eternity with the 
other. 

Left. Prince Ferdinand, son of the Ducde Montpensier ; by 
Aime Millet. An exquisitely beautiful tomb, and simple touch- 
ing figure. 

Opposite, right. Prince Louis, son of the Due de Montpen- 
sier ; by Millet, A veiled figure. 

Left. Six children of the Due d'Aumale. 

Left. Louis Philippe, Prince de Conde, eldest son of the 
Due d'Aumale, who died at Sydney in his twenty-first year, Sep- 
tember, 1866. 

Left. Fran9oise, Due de Guise, last son of the Due d'Au- 
male, who died at eighteen, July 25, 1872. 

Right, opposite. Caroline, Duchesse d'Aumale, i86g, with a 
beautiful statue by Alfred Lenoir. 

Turnijig right fro7n steps. Prince Robert, son of the Due de 
Chartres, aged eighteen. , 

A beautiful series of windows represents the life of St. Louis. 
The tomb of the Due de Penthievre, maternal grandfather of 
Louis Philippe (father-in-law of the Princesse de Lamballe), was 
violated in 1793. In side passages are some exquisite windows, 
each being a picture on a single sheet of glass, executed at Sevres, 
by Brongniart and Robert. 

A little north-east of Dreux is Abondant^ whither Mme 
de Tourzel, governess of the children of Louis XVI., 
retired after the death of Robespierre, having escaped 



354 ^^ ^S NEAR PARIS 

miraculously from the guillotine, with her two daughters- 
the Duchesse de Charost, and Pauline, afterwards Com- 
tesse de Be'arn and authoress of Souvenirs de QuaranteAns. 
Here this faitliful friend of Marie Antoinette is buried, 
with the epitaph — 

"HicjacetL, E. F. T. A. M. J. de Croy, Ducissa deXourzel, 
regiae sobolis gubernatrix. Fortis in adversis, Deo rcgique 
fidelis, vere mater pauperum, pertransivit benefaciendo, omnibus 
veneranda, magno prolis amore dilecta. Abiit anno aetatis 82. 
Requiescat in pace." 

Architects especially will not fail to prolong their ex- 
cursion to the interesting remains of the Chateau d^Anet, 
near the station of Ezy-Anet, 2 1 k. from Dreux, on the line 
to Louviers. See Western France. 



INDEX. 



Abbaye aux Bois, 307 
Corneille, 231 
de Maubuisson, 194 
de Port Royal, 326 
de Royaumont, 201 
St, Denis, 161 
du Val, 190 
du Val Profond, 307 
de la Victoire, 220 

Ablon, 288 

Abondant, 353 

Andilly, 187 

Anet, 354 

Antony, 306 

Arcueil, 298 

Argenteuil, 159 

Artoire, 341 

Asnieres, 106 

Athis-Mons, 288 

Auger St. Vincent, 222 

Aulnay, 151, 300 

Aumone, 194 

Auvers, 191 

B. 

Barbery, 222 

Beauregard, chateau de, 261 

Beaumont-sur-Oise, 202 

Bellevue, 319 

Beynes, 346 

Bezons, 159 

Bicetre, 298 

Bievre, 307 



Blaville, chateau de, 293 
Bois de Meudon, 318 

le Roi, 265 

de Vincennes, 250 
Boissy-St. Leger, 252 
Bondy, 254 
Boran, 203 
Bougival, 124 
Bourg-la-Reine, 299 
Boutigny, 3S5 
Bretigny, 292 
Breuillet, 293 
Brie-Comte Robert, 253 
Briis, 311 
Brimborion, 320 
Brunoy, 262 
Buzenval, chateau de, 125 

C. 

Celestins, chateau des, 154 
Celle St. Cloud, 125 
Chaillot, 157 
Chamant, 222 
Chamarande, 293 
Chambourcy, 118 
Champlatreux, chateau dc, 202 
Chantilly, 2og 
Charenton-le-Pont, 260 
Chasse, chateau de la, 187 
Chatenay, 306 
Chatillon-sous-Bagneux, 299 

Chatou, 108 
Chaville, 320 
Chaud-Moncel, 252 
Chelles, 255 



356 



INDEX 



Chenhevieres, 252 
Chevreuse, 308 
Chill}^ 307 
Choisy-le-Roi, 286 
Clagny, 104 
Clamart, 313 
Colombes, 158 
Compiegne, 225 
Conflans, 260 

Conflans-St.-Honorine, 145 
Corbeil, 283 
Courbevoie, i 
Creil, 204 

Crepy-en-Valois, 222 
Creteuil, 261 
Crosne, 261 
Cucufa, pool of, 123 

D. 

Dammarie-les-Lys, 265 
Dammartin, 239 
Dampierre, 309 
Domont, 200 
Dourdan, 293 
Dreux, 350 

E. 

EchafFour, forest of, loS 
Ecouen, 199 
Enghien-les-Bains, 184 
Epinay-sur-Orge, 288 
Epone, 151 
Ermenonville, 240 
Essonnes, 285 
Etampes, 293 
Etrechy, 293 
Eury-sur-Seine, 283 



Fleury, 313 
Fontainebleau, 265 
Fontaine-le-Port, 265 
Fontenay-aux-Roses, 299 
Forest of Carnelle, 202 
Chantilly, 216 
Compiegne, 231 
Fontainebleau, 278 



Forest of Halette, 224 
Marly, 142 
Montmorency, 186 
Rambouillel, 345 
St. Genevieve, 288 
St. Germain, 117 
St. Leger, 353 
Senart, 283 
Sequigny, 288 

Forges-les-Bains, 311 

Froment, chateau de, 282 

Fourqueux, 142 



Gambais, 350 

Gassicourt, 154 

Gif, 307 

Grignon, 339 

Grillon, 293 

Grolay, 187 

Gros Bois, chateau de, 252 

Groslay, 199 

H. 

Halatte, forest of, 224 
Haute-Bruyerc, 340 
Houdan, 350 



Issy, 313 
Ivry, 286 

Jonchere, La, 124 • 
Juilly, 237 
Juvisy-sur-Orge, 288 



L'Abbaye, 261 

La Ferte-Alais, 285 

Lamotte, 224 

Lardy, 293 

La Varenne St. Maur, 252 

La Verriere, 339 

Les Essarts du Roi, 340 

Les Loges, 118 

L'Isle Adam, 202 

Le Tremblay, 340 

Levy-St.-Nom, 339 



INDEX 



357 



Limay, 154 
Limours, 311 
Livry, 254 
Longport, 290 
Longueil St. Marie, 224 
Louveciennes, 142 
Luzarches, 202 

M. 

Maisons-Alfort, 261 

Laffitte, 144 
Maisse, 285 
Malesherbes, 286 
Malmaison, La, 121 
Mantes, 151 
Maffliers, 201 
Marcoussis, 291 
Marcil Marly, 118 
Marly-la-Machine, 125 

le-Roi, 126 
Massy, 306 
Maubuisson, 194 
Maule, 151 
Maurepas, 340 
Meaux, 257 
Medan, 149 
Melun, 262 

Mereville, chateau de, 297 
Meriel, 191 
Mery, 191 
Mesnil-Aubry, 200 
Mesnil, chateau de, 155 

St. Denis, 339 
Mesnuls, chateau de, 349 
Meudon, 313 
Meulan-les-Mureaux, 149 
Meunecy, 2S5 
Milly, 285 
Monnerville, 297 
Monsoult, 201 
Monte Cristo, villa of, 109 
Mont-1'Eveque, chateau de, 221 
Montfort-l'Amaury, 347 
Montgeron, 261 
Montlhery, 290 
Montmorency, 184 
Mont Valerien, i 
Moret, 280 
Morfontaine, 208 



Morienval, 236 
Morlaye, chateau de, 203 

N. 

Nanterre, 106 
Nantouillet, 237 
Neauphle-le-Vieux, 346 
Nogent-les-Vierges, 205 
Nogent-sur-Marne, 251 
Notre Dame de la Roche, 339 



Orsay, 307 



O. 



P. 



Palaiseau, 306 
Parc-aux-Dames, 222 
Pecq, Le, 109 
Persan-Beaumont, 202 
Petit Bourg, 283 
Pierrefonds, 232 
Poissy, 145 
Pontchartrain, chateau de, 340 

346 
Pontoise, 192 
Pont-St.-Maxence, 224 
Port Marly, 126 
Port Royal, 326 
Presles, 202 
Puteaux, I 

R. 

Raincy, Le, 254 
Rambouillet, 341 
Retz, desert de, 142 
Ris-Orangis, 282 
Rivecourt, 225 
Robinson, 299 
Roche-Guyon, La, 156 
Roquemont, 202 
Roquencourt, 118 
Rosay, 157 
Rosny, 156 

Rouville, chateau de, 2S6 
Royaumont, 201 
Rueil, 119 



35S 



INDEX 



S. 



St. Brice, 199 

St. Ch6ron, 293 

St. Cloud, 2 

St. Corentin.. 157 

St. Corneille, abbey of, 231 

St. Cyr, 320 

St. Denis, 161 

St. Fiacre, 118 

St. Firmin, 216 

St. Genevieve, chateau de, 289 

St. Germain-en-Laye, 109 

St. Hilarion, 345 

St. Hubert, chateau de, 349 

St. Jean aux Bois, 235 

St. Leu-d'Esserent, 203 

St. Leu Taverny, 1S8 

St. Maur-les-Fosses, 251 

St. Maur-Port-Creteil, 251 

St. Michel, 290 

St. Pierre, 232 

St. Remy, 308 

St. Sauveur, hermitage of, 154 

St. Sulpice de Favieres, 293 

St. Waast-de-Longmont, 225 

Sarcelles-St. -Brice, 199 

Sartrouville, 145 

Savigny-sur-Orge, 288 

Sceaux, 301 

Senart, 283 

Senlis, 217 

Senlisse, 310 

Sequigny, 288 

Sevres, 13 

Soisy, 184 

Sucy-Bonneuil, 252 

Suresnes, i 

Survilliers, 208 



T. 

Tacoignieres, 349 
Taverny, 190 
Thiais, 288 
Trappes, 326 
Trianon, Grand, 95 

Petit, 99 
Triel, 149 



Val, 313 

Val, abbaye du, 190 
Valmondois, 192 
Vaux, 149 

le-Cernay, 310 
Vaux-le-Peny, 263 

-Praslin, 263 
Vetheuil, 156 
Verberie, 224 
Verneuil, 149 
Vernouillet, 149 
Versailles, 16 

Antichambre du Roi, 64 

dela Reine, 74 

Appartements du Due de 

Bourgogne, 78 

de Cardinal Fleury, 

78 
du Due de Maine, 

30 
de Mme du Barry, 

57 
de Mme de Main- 
tenon, 78 
de Mesdames, 88 
de Monsieur, 87 
du Due de Pen- 

thievre, 78 
Petits, de Marie 
Antoinette, 64 
de Louis 
XV., 54 
Attique du Nord, 33 
Bassin d'Apollon, 93 

de Neptune, 93 
Bibliotheque de Louis 

XVL, 56 
Bosquet d'Apollon, 94 

de la Colonnade, 93 
de la Reine, 93 
Cabinet de Chasses, 57 

des Perruques, 53 
du Roi, 53 
Cathedral of St. Louis, 104 
Chambre a Coucher de 
Louis XIV., 58 
de la Reine, 75 
Chapelle, 26 



INDEX 



359 



Versailles — 

Cour des Cerfs, 57 

de la Chapelle, 26 
Grande, 26 
de Marbre, 25 
des Princes, 26 
des Statues, 24 

Escalier des Ambassadeurs, 

57 
des Cent Marches, 

104 
deMarbre,78, 84,85 
des Princes, 87 
de Provence, 86 
du Roi, 88 
Galerie des Batailles, 78 
de Constantin, 33 
des Glaces, 51 
de Louis XIII., 88 
des Peintures, 44 
des Peintures His- 
toriques, 80 
Galeries de I'Empire, 86 

de I'Histoire de 

France, 30 
de Sculptures,32,86 
Gardens, 89 
Grand canal, 94 
Musee, 30 

de la Revolution 
Fran9aise, 104 
Orangerie, 92 
Parterre du Midi, 92 
Pavilion de la Surintend- 

ance, 78 
Piece d'Eau des Suisses, 92 
Place d'Armes, 24 
Quinconce du Midi, 93 
Salle d'Abondance, 47 
des Amiraux, 87 
d'Apollon, 48 
des Bonaparte, 84 
des Bourbon, 78 
des Cent Suisses, 77 
des Connetables, 87 
du Conseil, 52 
des Croisades, 33 
de Diane, 47 
des Etats-generaux,47 
des Gardes, 64 



Versailles — 

Salle des Gardes de la 

Reine, 75 
de la Guerre, 50 
des Guerriers Cele- 

bres, 88 
d'Hercule, 45 
du Jeu de Paume, 104 
de Mars, 48 
des Marechaux, 87 
des Marines, 86 
de Mercure, 48 
de I'CEil de Boeuf, 62 
de rOpera, 30 
d'Or et d'Argent, 56 
d'Orleans, 83 
de la Paix, 65 
des Pendules, 56 
des Porcelaines, 56 
de la Reine, 70 
des Residences roy- 

ales, 87 
des Rois de France, 87 
du Sacre, 75 
des Tableaux-Plans, 

87 
des Tombeaux, 86 
de Venus, 47 

Tapis Vert, 92 

Vestibule de Louis XIIL,87 
Vesinet, Le, 108 
Viarmes, 201 

Victoire, abbaye de la, 220 
Vigny, 150 
Villecresnes, 253 
Ville d'Avray, 13 
Villegenis, chateau de, 306 
Villemouble-Gagny, 255 
Villeneuve-l'Etang, 12 

St. Georges, 261,282 
Villepreux-les-Clayes, 346 
Villers St. Paul, 207 
Villiers N6auphle, 151, 346 
Vincennes, 242 
Viroflay, 320 
Vitry-sur-Seine, 286 



Yeres, 261 
Yvette, the, 309 



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the great city, his book is inimitable. We know nothing to compare with. 
it." — Buffalo Courier. 

" It would be difficult to find in any encyclopaedia an ampler or more 
fully digested collection of all the important facts relating to the ancient 
capital ; yet the work is quite as entertaining as an ordinary novel, and a 
tithe of the ' good stories ' vvhich it contains would set up a professional 
diner-out for life. ... It possesses: all the merits of a guide-book, with, 
one additional merit which no guide-book ever possessed yet — that of being 
readable throughout." — New York Times. 



GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS. NEW YORK 



AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE'S 

FLORENCE— VENICE. 



" Florence " and " Venice," by Auauptus J. C. Hare, from the festhetic poinl; 
of view, are models. The contents are divided in the usual way according to 
localities or "excursions," and include all ol note that a man of taste would 
need to know in regard to the historic and artistic treasures of these cities. 
The volumes are illustrated and are furnished with maps and indexes.''— 
The Nation. 

"Those who have found in Mr. HS,re's '" Walks in Homeland his other 
manuals so I'efreshing a relief from the monotcmous matter-of-fact of the guide- 
book, will welcome the two attractive volumes on Venice and Florence, which 
have just been added to the author's topographical geries*. Mr. Hare takes his 
reader through the streets, palaces, galleries, wherever, in fact, there is any- 
thing to reveal what has made these cities great, and what still renders them the 
most attractive spots in Europe." — Boston Advertiser. 

" Charming is the word to be used in characterizing these books. The plan 
is in general tliat of the earlier " Walks in Rome," and the cities are described 
in a series of excursions whose details not only give a vast deal of information 
as to things and places, but are enriched by a store of historical, literary, critical 
anfl anecdotal knowledge. Each of the volumes is furnished with a map com- 
prehensive enough for the uses of the traveler."— {Springfield Eepublican. 

" Those who have read "Walks in London '' will need i^o commendation to 
Venice— Florence. It is a rare delight to read a book written by a man of broad 
and ripe culture. Mr. Hare's "Walks about London" has long had the deserved 
reputation of being incomparably the best guide to that world's metropolis ; 
his guide-books to Italy, though less known on this side of the water, are hardly 
inferior ; and these two volumes are wortliy companions to their predecessors.'* 
—Christian Union. 

"These two bonks, by a competent author, well printed, and with a 
good index, should be popular among all who desire to visit intelligently the 
two cities whose names they bear. They are compact and brief, but they omit 
nothing which the traveler needs to see, and they give an intelligent criticism 
upon many of the chief objects of antiquity and art that come under his obser- 
vation. There are colored ])lans of the two cities, and occasional illustrationSi 
The author's "Walks in Rome" and "Days near Rome "had proven hid 
qualifications to treat of the Queen of the Adriatic and the City of the Arnn." 
— Churchman. 

"Mr. Hare has entered into the themes of these volumes, Venice and 
Florence, with the enthusiasm which they suesest, and with an uncoii.mon 
degree of knowledge. The reading of these books is a pleasure, for if thev were 
tmdertaken as a task the writing of them must have soon become a delight lo 
Mr. Unre. There U a world of charming reading in them, drawn from the pages 
of those who have written about these romantic old cities— poets, travelers, his- 
torians, critics— and the next best thing to being in their noble halls and 
palaces, hallowed with the memory of a thousand years, is to be there in spirit, 
as one cannot hut be with such an accomplished crpntleman and learned scholar 
as Mr. Hare for hiS guide.''— N. Y. Maii, and Express. 



rEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS. NEW YORK. 



AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE'S WORKS. 

STUDIES IN RUSSIA. 

WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS. 

In Mr. Augustus J. C. Hare's book, " Studies in Russia," we have 
a work c f permanent value, which has not been hurriedly put forth 
to catch the possible advantage of* any war agitation. There are few 
countries where Englishmen travel less than in Russia, and books 
such as this are not common. The illustrations are admirable. — 
Book Bijycr, N. V, 

l2mo. Cloth, $2.00. 

WANDERINGS IN SPAIN. 

WITH i6 FULL LAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. 

i2mo. Cloth, $N25. 

"Mr. Hare's book is admirable. We are sure no one will regret 
making it the companion of a Spanish journey. It will bear reading 
repeatedly when one is moving among the scenes it describes — no 
small advantage when the traveling library is scanty." — Saturday 
Review. 

" Here is the ideal book of travel in Spain ; the book which exactly 
anticipates the requirements of everybody who is fortunate enough to 
be going to that enchanted land ; the book which ably consoles those 
who are not so happy by supplying the imagination from the daintiest 
and most delicious of its stories." — Spectator. 

" Since the publication of " Castilian Days," by the American dip- 
lomat, Mr. John Hay, no pleasanter or more readable sketches have 
fallen under our notice." — Athejicciim. 

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, NEW YORK. 



AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE'S 

Cities of oouthern Italy and Sicily. 

With Illustrations. i2mo, Cloth, $2.50. 

" Mr. Hare's name will be a sufficient passport for the popularity of his new 
work. His books on the Cities of Italy are fast becoming as indispensable to 
the traveller in that part of the country as the guide-books of Murray or of 
Baedeker. . . His book is one which we should advise all future travellers 
in Southern Italy and Sicily to find room for in their portmanteaus. '" — 
Academy. 

" We regard the volume as a necessary part of the equipment of a traveller 
in Southern Italy ; if he goes without it he will miss the most thorough and 
most helpful book that has treated it. The part devoted to Sicily is especially 
full of interest ; and we should not omit to make mention of the exquisite lit- 
tle woodcuts done from Mr. Hare's water-colors executed on the spot." — 
British Quarterly Review. 

" Of all the volumes published for the instruction and delight of travellers, 
those of Augustus J. C. Hare are the best on many accounts. They are not 
mere directories or catalogues. They are full of human life and interest. 
Mr. Hare is the ideal tourist, who is interested in art, architecture, literature, 
natural history, and all the sciences, to the extent of not being wearisome, but 
of gilding whatever he touches with the light of his own knowledge and en- 
thusiasm. ... Wherever he has gone with note-book in hand, he has not 
failed to jot down those objects which repay the trouble of inspection, and to 
tell about them all that is worth knowing. His ' Studies in Russia,' his 
'Wanderings in Spain,' his ' Sketches in Holland and Scandinavia,' and his 
' Cities of Southern Italy and Sicily,' show him as much at home in those 
widely separated countries as in his own London." — New York Journal of 
Commerce. 



AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE'S 
Sketches in 

Holland and Scandinavia. 

With 33 Illustrations. i2mo, Cloth, $1.00. 

" This little work is the best companion a visitor to these countries can 
have, while those who stay at home can also read it with pleasure and profit." 

— Glasgow Herald. 

" Will be popular for its handy size and light manner. Without being 
strikingly amusing, it is yet never wearisome. . . . His notes of travel in 
Norway are very tempting to tourists attracted to the north." — London Art 
Journal. 



GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, NEW YORK. 



§D- Augustus ^. €. Pare. 
MEMORIALS OF A QUIET LIFE. 

W'^itla Xa\^o Steel Poi'traits. 

Two volumes, 12mo, cloth, 3 5.00. Two volumes in One, 12mo, 

cloth, S 3.00. 



" If it is a splendid service to men to make the way of duty look to them as the 
way of joy, to clothe the common drudgeries of obedience in garments of beauty, 
to render household routine sacred, and self-sacrifice attractive, then no ordinary 
honor belongs to these ' Memorials of a Quiet Life.' " — Bishop Huntingtox. 

" We are far from using the language of mere conventional eulogy when we say 
that this is a book which will cause every right-minded reader to feel not only the 
happier, but the better." — CoxsERVATiVi;. 

" The name of Hare is one deservedly to be honored ; and in these ' Memorials,' 
wliich are as true and satisfactory a biography as it is possible to write, the author 
places his readers in the heart of the family, and allows them to see the hidden 
sources of life and love by which it was nourished and sustained." — ATHEX.s:tJM. 

" One of those books which it is impossible to read without pleasure. It con- 
veys a sense of repose not unlike that which everybody must have felt out of ser- 
vice-time in quiet little village churches. Its editor will receive the heartj' thanks 
of every cultivated reader for these profoundly interesting ' Memorials ' of two 
brothers, whose names and labors their universities and church have alike reason 
to cherish with affection and remember with pride, who have smoothed the path 
of faith to so many troubled wayfarers, strengthening the weary and confirming 
the weak." — Stand.^rd. 

" The book is rich in insight and in contrast of character. It is varied and full 
of episodes which few can fail to read with interest ; and, as exhibiting the senti- 
ments and thoughts of a very influential cii'cle of minds during a quarter of a cen- 
tury, it may be said to have a distinct historical value." — Nonconformist. 

" A charming book, simplj^ and gracefully recording the events of a simple and 
gr.".cious life. Its connection with the beginning of a great movement in the Eng- 
lish Church will make it to the thoughtful reader more profoundly suggestive than 
many biographies crowded and bustling with incident. It is almost the first of a 
cla.ss of books the Christian world just now greatly needs, showing how the spir- 
itual life was maintained amid the shaking of religious ' opinions ' ; how the life 
of the soul def'pened as the thoughts of the mind broadened ; and how, in their 
union, the two formed a volume of larger and more thoroughly vitalized Christian 
idea than the English people had witnessed for many days." — Glasgow Herald. 



GEORGE ROUTLEDGE Sc SONS, NEW YORK. 






LIFE AND LETTERS OF FRANCES, 

BARONESS BUNSEN 

BY 

AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE. 



With Tw5 Stsel Portraits. 



Two Volumes, 12mo, Cloth, Price, $5.08 

The Two Volumes in Oxe, 12mo, Cloth, ...... Price, §3.00 



" These volumes are worthy of a place beside the ' Memorials of a Quiet 
Life.' " — Churchman. 

"There are few books which bring the reader face to face with so many 
distinguished people of tlie past two or tiiree generations as this.'"— Con- 

OREGATIONALIST. 

*' I thank you with all my heart for the pleasure you hav'e given to all of 
us by sending to us the ' Life of Madame Bunsen.' It is a wonderful book 
in many ways— the life of a wonderful woman. So much of the story is told 
by herself, too, that we are sure that we see her as she was and is." — 
Edward Everett Hale, in the Christian Register. 

*' The world is yet too poor in such exalted types to spare the lessons and 
■memorial of so uouie a career, and weknow of few books recently pab- 
lishbd M'hich are at once so full of living interest and of the most profitable 
lessons, conveyed in a way only to fascinate and attract, as this record of a 
woman faithful to herself, her family, her race, and her God." — Baltimore 
Evening Bulletin. 

""We have been favored with many delightful biographies of late years, 
but there is none which has tlie pure charm of this. . . . The reviewer 
who should say all he thought of this lovely girl and saintly woman would 
be accused of extravagance, but he may safely leave the vindication of his 
enthusiasm to the book itself, which will transport him into a refined atmos- 
phere, and into company which goes far to redeem this world of all its -re- 
proaches." — Chari^es Dudley Wakner, in tue Har':^ford Ooukant 



NOVELS and ROMANCES 

By ALEXANDRE DUMAS. 

An attractively illustrated edition, printed on fine paper, from clear, open 
type, each volume containing six full-page plates. Neatly and handsomely 
bound in cloth. In 14 volumes, i2mo, in a box, $17.50; half-calf, extra, 
!iiJ42.oo ; per volume, cloth, $1.25 

THE COUNT OF MONTE-CRISTO. 
THE THREE MUSKETEERS. 
TWENTY YEARS AFTER. 
VICOMTE DE BRAGELONNE (2 vols.) 
MARGUERITE DE VALOIS. 
CHICOT, THE JESTER. 
FORTY-FIVE GUARDSMEN. 
THE CONSPIRATORS. 
THE REGENT'S DAUGHTER. 
MEMOIRS OF A PHYSICIAN. 
THE QUEEN'S NECKLACE. 
TAKING THE BASTILE. 
THE COUNTESS DE CHARNY. 

Readers of Mr. Hare''s books -who ivould learn still 7Hore of Paris., par- 
ticularly the Paris of the past, can fnd no better means of gratifying that 
desire than by a perusal of the novels of Dumas., the scenes of which are 
laid principally in Paris and its neighborhood. The streets, buildings and 
regions described by Hare are by Dumas peopled with life, and their histori- 
cal associations made the basis for romantic episodes that delight the 
iinagination and kindle the heart. His phenomenal powers invest the 
scenes with a living interest luhich no description devoid of the hzniian 
ele77tent can rival, 

" What v\^as it that so fascinated the young student, as he stood by the 
river shore ? What book so delighted him, and blinded him to all the rest of 
the world ? Do you suppose it was Livy, or the Greek grammar ? No ; it 
was a Novel; it was the prisoner of the Chateau d'lf cutting himself out of 
the sack, and swimming to the island of Monte Cristo. O Dumas ! O thou 
brave, kind, gallant old Alexandre ! I hereby ofiEer thee homage, and give 
thee thanks for many pleasant hours. I have read thee (being sick in bed) 
for thirteen hours of a happy day, and had the ladies of the house fighting 
for the volumes." — Thackeray. 



GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, NEW YORK. 



ALPHONSE DAUDET 
Tartarin of Tarascon 

T ARTARIN ON THE JIlPS 

Ija Belle Divernaise 
5appho 

Illustrated by 

ROSSI. ARANDA, MYRBACH, MOr:TENARDk. 
DE BEAUMONT. MONTEGUT, PiCARD 




I2mo, half leather, $2.25 ; paper, $1.50 

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS 
Nkw York and London 



Press Notices of 



Tartarin of Tarascon. 



" Tirtarin of Tarascon," the most deliciously humorous and satirically 
delightful of all books of the kind. ... is published with a beautiful 
letter-press, and all of the very delicate illustrations of the French artists, 
Aranda, de Beaumont, Montenard, de Myrbach and Rossi, which are set in 
alluring nooks of the text." — Boston Globe. 

''None but a Frenchman could have conceived such a master-piece as 
this. Its irresistiole drollery, its charming ingenuousness, its absolute 

fidelity to nature, its irrepressible liveliness, its but even English 

words to characterize accurately such a book as this are wanting." — 
Albany Argus. 

" No English writer with whom we are acquainted, and certainly no 
American writer, could have divined the exquisite literary qualities which 
M. Daudet has discovered in these grotesque trifles. . . . The 
art which went to the making of Tartarin is not a common one ; it is 
so uncommon, indeed, in English creative work, that we find little of it 
outside of Shakespeare, and scarcely any in Dickens, in whom for the 
most part it is conspicuous by its absence. It is humor of the highest 
kind, the kind that is unerring in its choice of subjects, and as satisfactory 
as nature when she deals with exuberance and extravagance. Tartarin 
will live as a comic character when many of the tragic characters of 
modern fiction shaU have been forgotten." — H. H. Stoddard in JSf. Y. 
Mail and Express. 

"Not even ' Tartarin on the Alps ' is so amusing as ' Tartarin of Tara- 
scon' . . . It is exquisite in every sentence and we doubt if there 
ever came from the alembic of any translator a purer distillation, a more 
faithful rendering." — Philadelphia Press. 

" A delicious example of fine humor exquisitely conceived and carried 
out with the easy skill of a thorough literary artist. ... It is illus- 
trated by Montegut, de Myrbach, Picard and Rossi in a delightful manner, 
and with a humor in complete sympathy with the text." — Saturday liven- 
ing Gazette, Boston. 

" The humors of this countryman of Daudet and of Gambetta are 
simply delicious, and they are in this new shape fitly illustrated by scores 
of delicate little pictures. . . . These pictures possess that lightness, 
elegance and grace, which belong to French art, and are not attained by 
English or American illustrations ; and they are perfectly printed on the 
finest of paper." — Springfield Republican. 

George Routledge & Sons, JVew York and London. 



I** 



■^ '':->-f7-y' 








En 7'oute for Taj-ascon I — The Lake of Geneva. 
— Tartarhi S7iggests a visit to Bonnivard's 
cell. — A short dialogue amid the roses. — All 
the band tinder lock and key. — -Tiie tmf or- 
iginate Bonnivard. — A certain rope made in 
Avigfion comes to light. 

After the ascent, Tartarin's nose peeled 
anJ became pimpled, his cheeks cracked. 
He was oWiged to remain in his room for 
five days at the Belle Vue. Five days of com- 
presses, pomades of which he whiled away 
the cloying mawkishness and boredom by 
making little whist parties with the delegates, 



Press Notices of 



Tartarin on the Alps. 



"The story is constructed with -wonderful verisimilitude, and -the 
central character stands out with life-like vividness. The book has an- 
other charm in the excellent series of illustrations with which its pages 
are adorned. These are dainty vignettes done in a most attractive style. 
They are all of them exceedingly delicate, well finished and charming in 
themselves ; but they possess in a far more than ordinary degree the 
special merit of illustrating and elucidating the storj', the spirit of which 
is caught with perfect sympathy. The book is a luxurious morsel of 
literature. ' ' — Edinburgh Scotsman. 

" The charm of Alphonse Daudet's romance is due very largely to the 
author's humorous treatment of the materials of his story. His satire is 
of a delicate and exquisite character; never venomed and always merry." 
— MancTiester (England) Courier. 

" Mr. Henry Frith's version of M. Daudet's Tartarin sur les Alpes differs 
from most translations from the French in reproducing the original with 
the closest exactitude, even to the cover and the whole of the delightful 
illustrations." — Saturday Review, London. 

" The English reader will be grateful for a translation of this humorous 
book by Henry Frith, with the charmingly characteristic illustrations of 
the artists whose work adorned the original edition." — Illustrated London 
News. 

" Alphonse Daudet's tale of Tartarin on the Alps is doubly amusing. It 
contains a lively picture of the inhabitants of a French provincial town, 
and a still livelier account of modern Swiss travel. . . . The story is 
told with much subtle humor. . . . The numerous illustrations are 
of a very superior character." — Dundee {Scotlajid) Advertiser. 

"As might have been expected from the names of the author, illustra- 
tors and publishers, this book is a thing of beauty. The illustrations 
especially are of marvellous delicacy, and though the range is necessarily 
limited, the variety of them is great. The book itself is a most amusing 
burlesque of the unveracious gasconading to which their hot blood impels 
the natives of the South of France." — Glasgow Herald. 

" The illustrations are full of delicate characterization, of sharp satire, 
of artistic grace and skill ; the page is narrow and admirably broken up by 
a great variety of small cuts, and the typography leaves nothing to be 
desired. It is a long time since so complete and fascinating a work has 
come from the press."— 7%^ JBook Buyer, New York. 



' George Routledge & Sons, JVew York and LondoJi. 



Tartarin on the Alps 



T37 



left hand ; and at each turn of the carriage, 
streams, and valleys, from which uprose 
church steeples, were seen ; and in the distance 
the snowy peak of the Finsteraarhorn sparkled 
in the beams of the invisible sun. 

After a while the road became shaded, , 



6e4 



T-,.,,^ 




and of a wilder aspect. On one side was 
gloomy shadow, a chaos of trees planted on 
the slope, twisted and irregular, amongst 
which the splashing of a torrent was audible : 
on the right an immense rock overhung the 
path, bristling with branches which sprung 
from the crevices in its sides. 

They were not laughing in the landau now : 

F 2 










.%v>J> 



Press Notices of 



La Belle Nivernaise. 



''It is charmingly and gracefully wrought out, with a freshness of feel- 
ing that is more common among French than English writers, and a 
mingled pathos and heartiness that are delightful. The illustrations in 
these little stories are such as are possible only with French pencils and 
French printing." — R. H. Stoddard in N. Y. Mail and Express. 

"In this volume there are the finer beauties of Daudet's work, the 
humanity, the sympatliy, the pathos, which have caused comparison with 
Dickens, even more than his humor has.'' — Springfield Republican. 

"... Daudet's sweet and brilliant short story, ' La Belle Niver- 
naise,' a lovely bit of real life in the author's most delicate vein . . . 
worthy the most refined and the most imaginative of living French 
masters of fiction.'' — Saturday Evening Gazette, Boston. 

" Simple idyllic and absolutely unaffacted. If one were not absorbed 
by the charm of the style, he would wonder how the interest could be 
held by such a slight chain of incidents.'" — Albany Argus. 

" These stories are excellent examples of tlie peculiar genius of Daudet 
who must be conceded to be one of the greatest of living novelists. He 
has been called the legitimate successor of Balzac, yet his is a different 
kind of realism ; it is a picture more lightly touched that he gives us, with 
less depth, it may well be, and less earnestness of conviction ; but the 
graphic hand of the artist is felt in every line.'" — Boston Traveller. 

" Is one of the most charming books of the year. . . . Daudet hac 
given in this simple story another proof of his versatility and his knowl- 
edge of humanity. There is a natural, simple, healthy tone about the 
book which is at variance with the usual notions about French novels. 
. . . . The illustrations are a triumph of the pictorial art. One seldom 
sees a book where the match between text and illustrations is a more 
equal one." — San Francisco Chronicle. 

" ' La Belle-Nivernaise ' contains, besides the long story which gives its 
title to the volume, four of the author's shorter stories, which are always 
pleasant to read and sometimes delightful. . . . One of the stories 
translated is among the best of the legends of his native south which 
he tells so well: 'Les trois messes basses,' with its fantastic pictures, 
is altogether charming. The material execution of the books is excellent. 
No translator's name is given to either, but the versions seem to be as well 
done as it would be reasonable to expect Avhen the originals are by a writer 
so striking and individual as Alphonse Daudet." — New York Evening Post. 

George Routledge & Sons, A'ew York and London. 



THE REIGN OF LAW. 

Essays on Divine Government. 

With Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, $ 2.00. 



"Avery able book, well adapted to meet that spirit of inquiry which is 
abroad, and which the increase of our knowledge of natural things stimulates so 
remarkably. It opens up many new lines of thought, and expresses many deep 
and suggestive truths. It is very readable ; and there are few books in which a 
thoughtful reader will find more that he will desire to remember." — London 
Times. 

" This is in its way a masterly book Nothing can be abler than the way 

in which the Duke of Argyll disentangles and illustrates the various uses of the 
word ' Law ' in its scientific sense, and shows how much it really means, wha^ 
false meanings have been put upon it, and what are the scientific reasons for 

rejecting these false meanings The book is strong, sound, mature, able 

thought from its first page to its last." — London Spectator. 

'' The Duke of Argyll's ' Reign of Law ' is written with admirable clearness. 
His criticism of Mr. Darwin, in the chapter entitled ' Creation by Law,' is a model 
of perspicuity and neatness."' — The Chronicle. 

" We think it would be a profitable enterprise for some American publisher to 
reprint this book. It is one of the best of its class published in recent times. 
. . The author contributes to the illustrations of design in nature an interest- 
ing discussion of the ' machinery of flight ' in the wings of birds, and by this and 
other scientific matters makes his book a very readable one." — The Nation. 

" This volume is a remarkable work, in which the logical sufficiency of the argu- 
ments is equal to the perspicuity with which they are stated. The style is simple 
and clear, and not without eloquence, and the aptness and variety of the illustra- 
tions are striking."— The Evening Post. 

" This is a very great book ; great, because, while treating of the most profound 
subject of human thought, it can be read with comfort by those whom Mr. Lincoln 
called ' plain people.' " — The Round Table. 



GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, NEW YORK. 



